US East Coast port employers file NRLB complaint against union as strike looms

By Lisa Baertlein and David Shepardson

LOS ANGELES/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Employers negotiating a labor contract at U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports on Thursday filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the union, saying those leaders refuse to resume talks ahead of the threatened Oct. 1 strike.

The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) said it filed the complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, due to the repeated refusal of the International Longshoremen’s Association to return to the bargaining table. The two sides appear to be deadlocked on wage issues.

It is uncommon, but not unheard of, for employers to make such complaints to the NLRB – an independent agency of the federal government that enforces U.S. labor law, particularly with regard to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices.

The six-year master contract between USMX and the ILA expires on Sept. 30.

A White House official on Thursday reiterated the president does not intend to invoke a federal law known as the Taft-Hartley Act to prevent a strike.

“We encourage all parties to come to the bargaining table and negotiate in good faith,” the official said. “Senior officials from the White House, Labor Department, and Department of Transportation are in touch with the parties and delivering the message to them directly on being at the table and negotiating in good faith fairly and quickly.”

As that deadline approaches, companies that rely on ocean shipping are increasingly worried that the ILA’s 45,000 members will strike and close 36 ports that handle more than half of U.S. ocean trade of products such as bananas, meat, auto parts, construction materials and apparel.

Delays and costs could quickly cascade, threatening the U.S. economy in the weeks ahead of the U.S. presidential election and burdening already taxed global ocean shipping networks.

A JPMorgan analysis projected that a port strike could cost the U.S. economy $5 billion daily.

The employer group said it requested immediate injunctive relief – requiring the union to resume bargaining – so that a deal could be finalized.

The ILA in a statement on Thursday called the USMX a poor negotiating partner.

“If it wasn’t for the ILA engaging in serious and productive negotiations, most of the local agreements would not have been settled over the past year,” the union said in a statement.

Earlier this week, ILA International President and chief Negotiator Harold Daggett said he had rebuffed several USMX approaches.

“They call me several times each week trying to get the ILA to accept a low-ball wage package,” Daggett said.

Sources close to the talks said the ILA asked for a wage increase of 77% – a percentage the union called exaggerated. Industry experts say the increase likely will be higher than the 32% rise negotiated by the union covering workers at West Coast ports last year.