With roughly two months before union workers at East and Gulf Coast ports may begin a new strike, a fight over automated technology is slowing negotiations.

The union representing 45,000 East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers and a group representing employers held a new round of contract talks this week but failed to make significant progress on the critical issue of automation,

Containers are stacked beneath cranes at Port Newark Container Terminal as U.S. East Coast and Gulf ports resumed operations Friday after unionised dockworkers reached a tentative labour agreement with an employer group for a new contract,

The ILA union representing East and Gulf Coast dockworkers walked away from negotiating with port employers over concerns about automation, raising the risk of the strike resuming.

The union rejected the USMX's latest proposal, calling the move a “renewed attempt by USMX to eliminate ILA jobs.”