(Bloomberg) — The US Maritime Alliance says it has offered to boost wages for dockworkers by nearly 50% in an effort to resume negotiations with the International Longshoremen’s Union and avoid a potentially crippling strike at East Coast and Gulf ports.
USMX, as the group representing terminal operators and ocean carriers is known, said in a statement it has traded counteroffers with the dockworkers union related to wages over the last 24 hours.
“The USMX increased our offer and has also requested an extension of the current Master Contract,” the statement said.
A spokesperson for the dockworkers union said he was not aware of any such offer. The ILA has been threatening that its workers would walk out of container ports up and down the US East and Gulf coasts if no deal is reached before their current contract expires at 12:01 a.m. in New York.
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard met with USMX officials Monday, urging them to resolve the impasse fairly and quickly, according to an official familiar with the matter.
Negotiations have been at an impasse since the union called off talks in June, and the two sides have remained far apart on wages and disputes over automation.
“Our offer would increase wages by nearly 50%,” the group said in its statement. The offer also increases employer contributions to employee retirement plans and would strengthen health care options.
One of the biggest issues in the negotiations has been around automated equipment at container terminals.
USMX said the current offer includes the same language on automation as the current contract and previous offer extended this summer. The union has said they want language that is more restrictive of such technology.
–With assistance from Josh Wingrove.
(Updates with comment from White House official in fifth paragraph.)
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