Late Monday afternoon the director of the U.S. Federal Maritime and Conciliation Service (FMCS) said the International Longshoremen’s Association and the group trying to negotiate a new contract with them, the U.S. Maritime Alliance, have agreed to meet before their current pact expires on Dec. 29. FMCS Director George Cohen has called a meeting of the ILA and the Maritime Alliance in advance of the December 29th expiration of the contract extension. The parties have agreed to attend.

The master contract covering container shipping operations between the longshoremen working at 14 ports along the East and Gulf coasts expired on Sept. 30, but was extended 90 days until Saturday. The ILA has said if an agreement is not reached, its members could go on strike Sunday.

Earlier, two of the largest container terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey, Maher Terminals and Port Newark Container Terminal urged customers to pick up cargo by the close of Friday, Dec. 28, saying if there was a work stoppage, there would be no gate activity at their terminals.

As has been previously reported in the press, the major issue dividing the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) and the ILA is Container Royalty; a supplemental payment the longshore workforce has enjoyed over nearly half a century. Although the continuance of the Container Royalty Program in its present arrangement is a major issue for the employers, the issues of importance specific to the Port of New York and New Jersey have yet to be addressed. These issues include low productivity, excessive staffing, and archaic work rules.

If this strike does occur it will have serious consequences for the nation’s still-recovering economy, but it would also jeopardize the financial well-being of the ILA’s 14,500 members, who would lose a lot of money on wages and benefits for each day they’re out of work.