Talks to avert another potentially crippling port strike set to resume [Video]

Negotiations aimed at heading off a new strike at the ports up and down America’s East and Gulf Coasts are set to resume Tuesday.

The talks are between the United States Maritime Alliance, the group representing ship lines and port and terminal operators which uses the acronym USMX, and the International Longshoremen’s Association, a union which represents 50,000 members who fill 25,000 jobs spread between three dozen locations at 14 port authorities from Maine to Texas.

In October ILA members went on strike, stopping the flow of much of the cargo and containers over those docks. Those ports handle more than half of US inbound container traffic, and the strike threatened to create shortages of all manner of imports needed by US businesses and consumers, as well as hurt US exports. The strike ended after only three days though, when a tentative agreement sent workers back to the docks.

That agreement covered only wages, which increased hourly pay …