Dockworkers along the East Coast and through the Gulf South are finalizing strike plans with less than a month remaining on their labor contract and no negotiations scheduled with port employers, raising the prospects of an Oct. 1 walkout, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Senior shipping industry officials say the strike—the first in almost 50 years by the International Longshoremen’s Association union—is starting to look inevitable.
“The ILA continues to strongly signal it has already made the decision to call a strike,” the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents ocean shipping companies and port employers, said Thursday. “We hope the ILA will reopen dialogue and share its current contract demands so we can work together on a new deal.”
The union president has reportedly declined to sit down to talks unless employers agree to a 77% pay increase.
