Retailers are urging the International Longshoremen’s Association and employers to reach a labor agreement well in advance of Sept. 30 when their current contract expires, saying a disruption to the flow of goods would be “devastating.”
Sandy Kennedy, president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), said in a letter to Harold Daggett, head of the ILA, and James Capo, chairman and chief executive officer of the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents stevedores and shipping companies, that “potential disruption would be devastating to the retail industry as it would disrupt the flow of goods, resulting in lost sales and aggravated customers.”