With no end near, talks resume in LA port strike

Talks resumed Monday after a weekend when negotiators for shipping companies and striking clerical workers made no apparent progress toward ending a strike entering its fifth day at the nation's busiest port complex.

Progress was being made on "surface issues," said John Fageaux Jr., president of the International Longshore Warehouse Union local that represents about 900 clerical workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

But he said the sides remained far apart on issues of most concern to the workers, such as job security and provisions against outsourcing,

"We are making some progress, but not on any of the core issues, …