(Bloomberg) -- With less than a week until a dockworker strike could shutter every major container port on the US Atlantic and Gulf coasts, port employers and the union disagree on a range of issues — including whether they’re even negotiating.
The United States Maritime Alliance accused the International Longshoremen’s Association of engaging in unfair labor practices and asked the National Labor Relations Board to require the union to resume bargaining before their contract expires on Sept. 30.
The ILA is threating to walk out on Oct. 1 if there’s no deal on a new six-year contract. The USMX, as the group representing ocean carriers and terminal operators is known, alleges the union has repeatedly refused to bargain since canceling negotiations earlier this summer.
In a statement earlier this week, ILA President Harold Daggett said the USMX claims are misleading. “They call me several times each week trying to get the ILA to accept a low-ball wage package,” he said.
The USMX request to the NLRB is for “immediate injunctive relief – requiring the union to resume bargaining — so that we can negotiate a deal,” according to a statement. The ILA called the move “another publicity stunt.”
The NLRB couldn’t force either side to sign an agreement, but could order the union to resume bargaining if the USMX can show they haven’t been engaging in good faith negotiations, according to Melissa Atkins, a partner at Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel, who specializes in labor and employment law. She said it’s likely the agency will move quickly.
Even if the two sides have been in communication, Atkins said “a violation comes when one side is insisting on an impasse on mandatory subjects of bargaining — wages and benefits.”
The NLRB “can’t stop a strike, but they can determine that a strike is unlawful,” Atkins said.
June Breakdown
The dockworker union and the employer group remain far apart on pay and — a potentially harder issue to resolve — automation. The union called off high-level negotiations in June over allegations that some terminals are using automated technology in violation of their contract.
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