US port officials gird for strike as labor talks stay stuck [Video]

Officials at 14 ports along the US East and Gulf coasts were making last-minute preparations on Monday for a likely labor strike that could drag on the US economy just ahead of a presidential election.

With contract talks stalled between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the business group United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), tens of thousands of dockworkers are poised to walk off the job after midnight at the expiration of a six-year contract.

“While we have encouraged both sides to reach an amicable agreement at the bargaining table, all signs are that there will be a strike,” Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said Monday at a news conference where New York officials sought to reassure consumers that they would not lose access to food and other essential goods.

A walkout would be the ILA’s first since 1977. The contract directly affects some 25,000 ILA members at 14 …