Tentative Agreement Is Reached in West Coast Ports Dispute

LOS ANGELES — Shipowners and dockworkers reached a tentative deal on Friday night to end a protracted labor dispute that had jammed ship traffic at ports along the West Coast and taken a deepening economic toll on farmers, retailers and merchants across the country.

Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez, who was dispatched to California to intervene in the protracted negotiations, said that normal operations at the ports would resume on Saturday evening, ending months of slowdowns and work stoppages that had resulted in heavy congestion as huge container ships waited for weeks to be loaded and unloaded.

“We must dedicate ourselves to finding a new way to ensure that this nightmare scenario is not repeated again,” he said.

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The New York Times