President Bush signed an executive order today as a first step toward opening West Coast ports after contract talks between shipping lines and longshoremen bogged down.

The president authorized a board to present him with data on Tuesday that would be needed to ask a judge to order ports open for 80 days under the 1947 Taft-Hartley federal act, according to Bloomberg News. The act provides a "cooling off" period in a national emergency, which can include a risk to the country's economic health.
"Out of concern for the economy and jobs, the president this morning signed an executive order to create a board of inquiry to report on the labor dispute," Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters at the White House. "He wants the parties to enter into an agreement with themselves and get back to work."
The shippers' association closed 29 ports on Sept. 27 after accusing the dockworkers union of engaging in work slowdowns. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents 10,500 longshoremen, and the association have negotiated with the help of a federal mediator since Thursday.
The panel that works on Taft-Hartley arrived at the San Francisco site of the talks that cover docks in California, Oregon and Washington handling about $300 billion of cargo a year, Pacific Maritime Association Chief Executive Joseph Miniace said late Sunday.
"I think Taft-Hartley is imminent," he said.