LOS ANGELES — It's still slow going at West Coast ports as union longshoremen chip away at a massive backlog of cargo resulting from a 10-day shutdown by management.

The Pacific Maritime Association, representing waterfront employers, said it's still gathering statistics but that indications are that productivity during the last several days has consistently been about 25 percent below normal levels.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union says the problems result from congestion following the lock-out of dockworkers, which ended last week when a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order after the Bush administration asked for an injunction and cooling-off period under the Taft-Hartley Act.

A hearing had been scheduled for Wednesday on the 80-day injunction, but representatives of the PMA, the ILWU and the Justice Department have agreed to let the cooling-off period begin without a hearing. It will continue until Dec. 27.

The two sides were waiting Monday for a federal mediator to reschedule negotiations over a new contract to replace the one that expired July 1. The key issues in the talks are management's efforts to introduce labor-saving technology and union attempts to expand work jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, West Coast ports remain clogged. ILWU officials blame a shortage of equipment by railroads, which are allocating slots on their intermodal trains and in their rail transfer yards near the ports. The union also has vowed to "work safely," which management says is a euphemism for slowdowns.

"A dog can eat the homework only so many time times," said Steve Sugerman, a PMA spokesman. He said terminals along the coast report that the union has been supplying insufficient labor to fill clerks' positions, and that many clerks have been showing up for work as much as 90 minutes late.

In California, occupational safety officials are watching to make sure that work is done safely and quickly.