Bush intervenes in shipping ports strike
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.George Bush intervened yesterday to try to end the economically crippling shutdown of West Coast shipping ports, taking the first legal step towards ordering dockers back to work and declaring an 80-day cooling-off period.
With no sign of progress between union leaders and the port operators, the President formed a board of inquiry that will assess the situation and report back within 24 hours. At that point, the White House would be legally empowered to go to court and demand that the ports reopen while the negotiations continue. The week-long shutdown, sparked by a protracted argument over job security and new technology, is draining an estimated $2bn (£1.3bn) from the American economy every day. Factories have come to a standstill and thousands of workers have been laid off.
The White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said: "Clearly, the longer this goes on, the longer the parties are incapable of reaching an agreement between themselves, the more damage it's doing to America's economy and hurting people who are wholly unrelated to events on the West Coast."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments