President's Remarks on West Coast Ports
Outside the Oval Office
3:44 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate my Cabinet secretaries joining me here
for this announcement. For over a week our ports along the Pacific
Coast have been shut down. These ports handle more then $300 billion a
year in trade. The work stoppage is hurting our entire economy. It is
hurting truckers and rail operators who carry goods to other parts of
America. It's hurting farmers and ranchers and manufacturers,
retailers and consumers who make, buy, and sell the products that pass
through our ports.
The crisis in our western ports is hurting the economy. It is
hurting the security of our country, and the federal government must
act. Americans are working hard every day to bring our economy back
from recession. This nation simply cannot afford to have hundreds of
billions of dollars a year in potential manufacturing and agricultural
trade sitting idle. We can't afford it. Because of the situation at
the West Coast ports, our economy is already losing up to $1 billion a
day -- economic losses that translate into lost jobs.
The farm economy alone is losing a thousand jobs a day. Automotive
plants cannot get all the parts they need, and they're laying off
workers. Stores cannot begin stocking up for the holiday season. All
of this will only worsen as time goes on.
The work stoppage also threatens our national defense. These ports
load the ships that carry supplies to our men and women in uniform.
These ports also receive parts and materials used by our defense
contractors to complete projects and maintain military equipment.
Federal mediators have been trying to get the workers and port
operators to resume operations while they negotiate their differences.
The Secretary of Labor has been working hard to get people back to
work. Unfortunately, the union and the management have been unable to
reach an agreement. After a lot of work, particularly by our Labor
Department and Secretary, after a lot of discussions, we have been
unable to bring the two parties together, and therefore stronger action
is required. Because the operation of western ports is vital to our
economy and to our military, I have determined that the current
situation imperils our national health and safety.
I have appointed a board of inquiry to investigate the issues at
stake. Today, the board submitted an official report stating each
party's position. I am now directing Attorney General Ashcroft to seek
an injunction under the Taft-Hartley Act, ending the lockout and
requiring work at the ports to resume at a normal pace. This dispute
between management and labor cannot be allowed to further harm the
economy and force thousands of working Americans from their jobs.
This injunction will allow the parties more time to resolve their
differences. It is not, however, a permanent solution to the problem,
and the federal government will continue working with both sides to
pursue a settlement. The ultimate responsibility for an agreement lies
with the worker representatives and the port operators. I expect both
sides to put the concerns of our national health and safety first, and
work in good faith to resolve their differences as quickly as
possible.