US ports seek to force dock workers to bargaining table

Operators file complaint with regulator; union calls the move a 'publicity stunt'

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Days before a possible strike by longshoremen on the East and Gulf coasts, port employers said they were asking a federal labor regulator to force the dock workers' union to resume negotiating a new contract.

The US Maritime Alliance, which is made up of port terminal operators, said on Sept 26 it had filed an "unfair labor practice" complaint at the National Labor Relations Board after the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) repeatedly refused to negotiate. It said it wanted the labor board to rule that the union must negotiate with the employers.