The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) is planning to meet in September to look over its final contract demands and, if necessary, prepare its members for a potential strike at Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. 

According to a release from the union on August 5, the ILA will conduct a two-day "marathon" session spanning September 4-5 in New Jersey, where it will present its proposed contract terms to its wage scale committee. ILA chief negotiator Harold Daggett said that the meeting will also give the union a chance to strategize for a potential strike if an agreement isn't reached by the time the union's contract expires on September 30. 

“My membership is 100% behind the ILA leadership team, and they know we want to deliver the best contract for them,” Daggett said. “If that means we have to go out on strike October 1, they are ready to ‘hit the streets’ if our demands are not met.”

Talks between the ILA and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) were halted in June, after the union discovered that an autonomous system was being used to process trucks at Alabama's Port of Mobile, among other shipping hubs. The ILA claimed that the use of an "auto-gate" system violated the union's existing deal with the USMX, and vowed to not pick up labor talks again until the issue is resolved. The union has not returned to the bargaining table since.

The ILA has also sent notices to its employer groups that it will not offer an extension to its expiring labor deal, keeping September 30 as the cutoff date for an agreement. If a deal isn't reached by then, East and Gulf Coast port workers will go on strike on October 1.