This week, the union representing dockworkers on the East Coast and Gulf Coast and a group of employers conducted a second round of contract negotiations. However, they failed to make any significant progress in some key areas.

The International Longshoremen's Association ended a three-day walkout on October 3 after reaching an agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance employer group (USMX) for a wage increase of 62% over six years. USMX met with the union for two days in order to come up with a six-year contract before a deadline of Jan. 15.

USMX stated that "while we made positive progress on some issues, we weren't able to make significant advances in our discussions which focused on a variety of technology issues."

(source: Reuters)