West Coast dockworkers walked out of negotiations Sunday with shipping companies and decided not to extend their contract, a move that legally allows them to stage a work slowdown, said Steve Sugerman, a spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents carriers

"We are watching the situation very carefully but so far we haven't any indication of a slowdown," Sugerman said.

ILWU officials will meet today to discuss their plans, union spokesman Steve Stallone said.

Two shipping lines ­ Matson Navigation Co. and CSX Lines ­ serve Hawai'i via the West Coast, bringing in more than 90 percent of the state's goods.

Neither company experienced problems on the docks today.

"We actually have a ship working today and labor is here and doing a great job," said Brian Taylor, vice president and general manager for CSX Lines. "I can't really indicate that there is anything that would be a slowdown at all."

He said the carrier's West Coast operations have run just as smoothly.

Jeff Hull, a spokesman for Matson, said the carrier has to "wait and see."

But Matson cannot work the ships without dock workers, he said.

"I don't want to create a panic, but I can't send out a message that says everything is fine," Hull said.

That may be a tough message for Hawai'i residents ­ from retailers to consumers.

"We're concerned, yes," said Kelvin Shigemura, vice president of Armstrong Produce. "We cannot stock up too much because within a week it turns bad. If they go on strike, we will have to fly things in."

A slowdown would create problems if the delays lasted longer than two to three days, Shigemura said.

Armstrong Produce has a two-week stock of potatoes and onions, items that would last longer than the perishables the company ships to Hawai'i, Shigemura said.

The possibility of a dock problem has yet to register with many consumers, but Coleen Tanaka said she found herself inspecting her pantry today and worrying.

"I thought about it and I have two little kids and, well, I worry about toilet paper," said Tanaka, an 'Aina Haina resident shopping at Safeway in Hawai'i Kai.

Still, Tanaka wasn't buying anything extra just yet. Unions always seem to settle after consumers buy extra.