Strife on the Waterfront a Reaction to 1950s Technology

Striking clerks at the nation’s largest port complex, in Southern California, agreed to return to work on Dec. 5, leaving Americans puzzled why a dispute involving a few hundred office workers could threaten the timely arrival of holiday gifts across the country and affect about $1 billion in trade a day.

The answer, of course, can be found in history -- in this case, the history of labor relations at the dawn of the container era.