ILA, USMX Talks Continue, but "the Battle is Far From Over"

Talks are due to start again at 8:30 am today in Galloway, New Jersey.

Talks between the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) continued for a second full day Wednesday, according to a post on the ILA's Facebook page attributed to Journal of Commerce (JOC) Senior Editor Joseph Bonney.

Negotiations over a $1.8 billion master contract covering some 14,500 jobs on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts are due to start again at 8:30 am today in Galloway, New Jersey, but the post prompted one person to comment that "the battle is far from over."

Negotiations with the threat of strike action by the ILA have been ongoing since September 2012 and there has been two deadline extensions so far, averting any strike action to date.

The most recent 30 day extension on December 29, 2012 came after an agreement in principle was reached over container royalty payments, moving the so called "container cliff" deadline to January 28, 2013.

Subsequent mutual agreement by USMX and ILA has now pushed that deadline back to February 6, 2013.

ILA and USMX say local agreements are now key to the approval of a coastwide contract.

The contract between ILA and the New York Shipping Association (NYSA) is said to be both the biggest and the most contentious of those, with changes sought to both work rules and practices at the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Last week, ILA walked out of those negotiations shortly after the start of a scheduled two-day session.

Shipping companies have warned that any strike resulting from another breakdown in negotiations will have a major impact on the nation's economy, and Maersk Line has already given details of a container surcharge it will implement in the event of industrial action.