NewsOctober 10, 2002
LOS ANGELES -- West Coast dockworkers returned to their jobs under court order Wednesday and were greeted with a huge backlog of cargo that built up over 10 days of a labor lockout. "It's been very hard. We're just glad to be back at work," said Karen Korbich, a dockworker for the past nine years...
The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- West Coast dockworkers returned to their jobs under court order Wednesday and were greeted with a huge backlog of cargo that built up over 10 days of a labor lockout.

"It's been very hard. We're just glad to be back at work," said Karen Korbich, a dockworker for the past nine years.

Dockworkers at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach held a rally before returning to their jobs. They were joined by civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, who helped lead cheers of "We want to work!"

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The cargo backlog caused by the lockout could take more than two months to clear.

"Simply put, it's more complicated to fix something than to break it," said John Pachtner, a spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping companies and terminal operators.

The 10,500 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union reported at hiring halls to work 6 p.m. shifts, ending a lockout that shut down 29 ports from San Diego to Seattle and cost the nation's fragile economy up to $2 billion a day by holding up exports and imports.

Dockworkers were expected to labor around the clock, with other shifts beginning at 3 a.m. and 8 a.m., officials said

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