Tuesday October 22, 2002
LOS ANGELES (AP) The two sides in the West Coast port dispute pointed fingers at each other on Tuesday as a shipment of disposable cameras meant for World Series fans remained unloaded on a cargo ship.
Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have volunteered to work without pay to unload the 57,000 cameras bound for Game 4 of the World Series on Wednesday in San Francisco, said ILWU spokesman Steve Stallone.
But the union did not get permission from the Pacific Maritime Association on Monday when it called seeking an OK to do the work, he said.
``If those things don't get unloaded now, those cameras won't get there in time,'' Stallone said.
The San Francisco Giants had planned to give away thousands of disposable cameras to fans. But the items were among billions of dollars in cargo waylaid by a 10-day port lockout prompted by a contract dispute. Dockworkers returned to the job on Oct. 9 under court order.
The PMA said allowing dockworkers to remove the cameras would impact other cargo already scheduled to be unloaded.
``While we're sympathetic with the World Series and understand the desire to have those items for the game, there are literally thousands of other companies hurt by the union's slowdown,'' said PMA spokesman Steve Sugerman.
``The union is not volunteering to help in those other situations.''
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