Port employers meet with Biden admin as potential strike looms next week

THE White House Friday confirmed that officials met with a group representing port employers as a potential strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast seaports could begin within days.

The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents employers at the 36 seaports likely to be affected by the strike, has held meetings with White House officials as they seek to restart negotiations in the hope of avoiding a fast-approaching work stoppage.

The unionized dockers of International Longshore Association (ILA)which represents 45,000 members at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, could go on strike starting Oct. 1 if a deal is not reached by the end of Monday.

“Senior officials from the White House, Department of Labor and Department of Transportation have been in contact with the parties and conveyed directly to them the message that they must be at the table and negotiate in good faith, fairly and expeditiously.” , said a White House official. told FOX Business.

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The official added that Transportation Secretary Pete ButtigiegActing Labor Secretary Julie Su and National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard “are meeting with the USMX to convey this message. Throughout the week, they have also been in contact with the ILA to convey the same message”.

The White House has repeatedly signaled that President Biden does not plan to invoke a labor law known as the Taft-Hartley Act that would allow him to intervene in a port strike to impose a “cooling off” period. for negotiations while workers are on strike. return to work.

The two sides in the labor dispute are at an impasse over issues such as wages and automation in ports.

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The USMX filed a unfair labor complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) which accused the ILA of refusing to come to the bargaining table to negotiate in good faith.

“The USMX has made it clear that we value the work of the ILA and have great respect for its members,” the USMX said in a statement announcing the filing of the complaint against the NLRB. “We have a shared history of collaboration and we are committed to negotiations.”

The USMX said the complaint was due to the ILA’s “repeated refusal to come to the table and negotiate a new master contract,” adding that it sought an injunction to force the union to return to negotiations.

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The ILA called the move a “publicity stunt” and countered that the group should have filed suit against its own members for failing to adequately compensate ILA workers.

“USMX’s filing of these charges four days before the expiration of the current master contract clearly illustrates what poor negotiating partners they have been,” the ILA said in a statement Thursday. “If the ILA had not engaged in serious and productive negotiations, most local agreements would not have been concluded over the past year.”

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A possible port strike would disrupt many export and import shipments East Coast and Gulf Coast ports.

A JP Morgan analysis estimates that a strike cost the US economy up to $5 billion per day.

Daniel Hillsdon of FOX Business contributed to this report.