With the threat of a dockworkers strike shutting down East Coast ports next Tuesday, an association of shipping and terminal companies said it has filed an unfair labor practice with the National Labor Relations Board, seeking to force the dockworkers union back to the negotiating table.
The International Longshoremen’s Association, based in North Bergen, represents roughly 85,000 port workers across the East and Gulf Coasts. Its leaders cut off contract talks in June after learning that a form of automation had been introduced at the Port of Mobile in Alabama, which they said violated the existing contract.
The existing contract between the union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, or USMX, which represents the shipping and port terminal companies, expires on Sept. 30, and a strike could start the next day.
Story continues below photo gallery
A strike by the ILA union would effectively shut down some of the busiest ports across the nation, including the Port of New York and New Jersey , which has key facilities in Newark, Elizabeth and Staten Island, potentially upending the delivery of billions of dollars worth of consumer goods before the holiday shopping season.