LOS ANGELES — Cargo was moving slowly but surely Thursday at West Coast ports, with an emphasis on slowly.

After being shut down for 10 days due to the employer lock-out of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, cargo operations were gradually picking up momentum, but neither the employers nor the union expected to reach full productivity immediately.

The Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping lines and terminal operators, said employers are working through some glitches on the docks, but since the ports have been re-opened less than 24 hours, much of the problem could be due to the built-up congestion on the docks.

"At least we do have a start," said PMA spokesman John Pachtner.

Pachtner said the slower-than-normal cargo-handling operations could be attributed to "vast congestion" at the terminals and "frayed human relationships."

While he would not elaborate, some terminal operators said marine clerks were making things worse by reporting to their positions as much as 90 minutes late. They said this was happening at many ports. Since marine clerks work pivotal positions at the gates and in the container yards, this would have a direct impact on the movement of cargo.

Under the contract proposal submitted to the union in negotiations, employers would use computer technology to phase out hundreds of clerks positions on the waterfront.

If employers believe they have enough evidence to prove a deliberate slowdown, they will bring the information to the federal judge that has been handling the labor situation on the West Coast since President Bush sought a Taft-Hartley Act injunction Tuesday.

Pachtner said the PMA Thursday had no plans of going to the judge. "We're just monitoring and assessing the situation," he said.

The ILWU said it was not surprised that some employers were attempting to get the government involved. "They're scrambling to find some way to blame the union," said ILWU spokesman Steve Stallone.

The union since Wednesday night has been dispatching as much labor as it can to the docks, but employers are asking for more manpower than is available, Stallone said. For example, employers in Seattle requested 500 longshoremen Thursday. According to the PMA annual report, there are only 570 registered longshoremen at Local 19 in Seattle.

Stallone suggested that insufficient skilled labor on the coast resulting from employer reluctance to promote dockworkers from casual to registered status is contributing to the problem.

Infrastructure limitations are also a contributing factor to the inability of terminal operators to move faster on reducing the backlog of more than 200 vessels that resulted from the 10-day shutdown. The railroads are allocating slots on their intermodal trains and in their rail transfer yards near the ports.

For example, the Union Pacific has established allocations for all of its steamship line customers at intermodal yards in Los Angeles-Long Beach, Oakland and Seattle, based on each line's historical volume at the ports, said UP spokesman John Bromley. The allocations are designed to prevent international containers from overwhelming the system as happened in 1997 after the merger with Southern Pacific.

The PMA and ILWU said they were waiting for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to notify them as to when negotiations could resume for a new contract.

Bill Mongelluzzo