Port worker shortage causes shutdown of major U.S. shipping gateway.

The busiest U.S. ocean trade gateway, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, have largely shut down due to a shortage of West Coast port workers, including operators needed to load and unload cargo, as a result of a coordinated action by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) to withhold labor as contract talks drag on. The ILWU said the slowdown was due to thousands of union workers attending a monthly membership meeting on Thursday evening and observing the Good Friday holiday the following day.