THE Pacific Maritime Association, representing US west coast terminal operators, said Pacific longshoremen were "easing back into full production" though performance was uneven port to port.
Separately, fears have been fanned by the White House about a possible shutdown of Homeland Security, that runs US Customs, prompting new concerns of a new cargo logjam. But customs officers themselves say such fears are groundless.
That's because customs officers have said they will work without pay in full expectation that they will be paid for time served when normal government operations resume.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles-Long Beach locals of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) resumed full dispatch of previously denied yard men after reducing dispatches from 110 to 35 per day, reported Newark's Journal of Commerce.
Seattle-Tacoma reported crane productivity as near normal after slowing below 20 moves per crane per hour from normal levels of 26-28 before the contract talks approached an impasse.
But Oakland reported trouble after ILWU Local 10 called a strike, disputing dispatch procedures and break times.
But a local arbitrator was called in - the first time one has appeared since the contract lapsed on July 1 - and ruled against the union.
The Marine Exchange of Southern California reported Monday there were 27 containerships at anchor. Oakland reported five ships at anchor and 13 waiting outside of the Golden Gate Bridge. Ten ships were at anchor outside of Seattle and Tacoma on Monday.
Union ratification, expected to take months, begins in March with a vote by 90 delegates. If approved, the contract will be submitted to the membership for a secret ballot.