The United Employee Acquisition Corporation, which represents the unions, said it would continue to pursue employee ownership of UAL.

Many shareholders who voted in favor of the buyout said they considered the employee acquisition - originally suggested by the pilots' and machinists' unions - as the best of three unpalatable alternatives.

It was a moment that underscored the complexity of the longshoremen's purchase, which its principals have touted as a model of public-private cooperation, as well as the world's first-ever employee acquisition of a port.