"We've done all we can," said John Fageaux Jr., president of the Office Clerical Unit, Local 63, of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

Clerks could strike as early as Monday but Fageaux said he was hopeful a new contract agreement would be reached. "I think we're very close," he said.

However, Steve Berry, lead negotiator for the shipping companies, said the companies' negotiating team needed time to study the union's offer to "decide what our final response would be." He said the next meeting with the union was scheduled for Tuesday.

Among the contract issues that remain under dispute in the negotiations were wages and employer-proposed health plan changes for new hires, Berry said.

The twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles handle more than 40 percent of all cargo container traffic coming into the U.S.

The 15,000-member ILWU has indicated that longshoremen would honor picket lines if the clerical workers strike. The clerks work at marine terminals and handle bookings for the export of cargo and other transport documents.

A major issue in the talks was the shippers' request for an association that could represent all the companies in collective bargaining, Fageaux said. The union agreed to discuss the idea in the next few years, he said.

The talks began in May and continued after the current contract expired June 30. Despite a strike deadline imposed last Monday by the union, the negotiating teams continued to meet stoking concerns about a possible shutdown at the ports.