U.S. West Coast port workers may reach a new contract without a strike like the one that idled the cargo entry points for 10 days in 2002, the union representing the 26,000 employees said.

"There's no sign at this point that the talks are headed" toward a walkout, Craig Merrilees, a spokesman for the San Francisco-based International Longshore and Warehouse Union, said yesterday in an interview. "But there's a lot of work left to be done." The current contract ends July 1.

The union and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the port terminal operators who employ the workers, have reached an accord on the healthcare portion of the contract. He declined to provide details on that section. They still must agree on wage, safety and environmental issues.

"There is a much more collaborative tone to the talks," Pacific Maritime Association spokesman Steve Getzug said in an interview. "And the economy is in a much different position than it was in 2002."

The 29 ports on the West Coast move about 1 million tons of cargo a day, for a 2007 total of 368 million tons valued at $465 billion, according to the employer association. Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., accounted for about 71 percent of the 12.2 million containers moved through the region's ports in 2007.