LOS ANGELES, CA – ILWU office clerical workers will work with a federal mediator in order to secure an agreement with employers that protects good jobs from being outsourced from communities surrounding the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The decision to work with the federal mediator follows an all-night negotiating session led by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that resulted in important progress—but an agreement to end the outsourcing of good jobs from the harbor area to foreign countries and other states—remains a serious obstacle that is preventing a settlement needed to end the strike.