The U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) has filed an unfair labor practice claim against the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), in a bid to force the union to return to the bargaining table to negotiate a new labor deal. 

The ILA halted negotiations with the USMX in June, after discovering that a handful of ports were using automated systems to check in trucks. The union has refused to resume formal talks ever since, although the ILA has claimed that the two parties "have communicated multiple times in recent weeks," and that the stalemate in negotiations is due to what it labels as an "unacceptable wage increase package" from the USMX. 

“They call me several times each week trying to get the ILA to accept a low-ball wage package," ILA president Harold Daggett alleged in a September 23 release. "My ILA members are not going to accept these insulting offers that are a joke, considering the work my ILA longshore workers perform, and the billion dollar profits the companies make off the backs of their labor."

The USMX's unfair labor practice claim was filed with the National Labor Relations Board on September 26, and asks the board to require the ILA to reopen negotiations. Prior to filing its claim, the USMX said that it hasn't been able to schedule a meeting with the ILA, asserting that "there is no indication the ILA is interested in negotiating at this time. The group also said that it is open to working with federal mediators to come to an agreement. 

If the two sides can't agree to a deal by the end of September, the ILA plans to go on strike on October 1, effectively shutting down all East and Gulf Coast ports. That could lead to backups at shipping hubs that would take months to clear if a work stoppage drags on, with more than half of the country's containerized imports moving through those ports annually.