U.S. labor secretary joins talks in West Coast ports dispute

By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. Labor Secretary Tom Perez met contract negotiators for shipping companies and the dockworkers' union in San Francisco on Tuesday, urging them to settle a dispute that has led to months of clogged cargo traffic and other disruptions at West Coast ports. Perez was sent to California by President Barack Obama, who has come under mounting pressure to intervene in the labor conflict that has rippled through the commercial supply chain across the Pacif