The American Apparel & Footwear Associaton joined with three other  groups to send a September 4 letter to the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) urging both parties to return to negotiations on a new Master Contract for port labor on the East and Gulf Coasts as soon as possible.

 

The current coast-wide Master Contract expires September 30. The negotiations between employers and the union broke off the week of August 22 amid recriminations from both sides. Meanwhile, on the West Coast, negotiations between the International Longshoreman and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 63 Office Clerical Union (OCU) and the Harbor Employers Association (HEA) resumed last week after halting temporarily August 27, when the OCU submitted a final proposal to the HEA, and abandoned the negotiations with the intention of a work stoppage in the near future. Since then, the OCU and HEA have jointly released a statement on the state of negotiations and their commitment to finding a solution.

 

The National Retail Federation has warned for weeks that retailers and shippers could incur millions in additional costs should the unions strike.