nternational moving companies with shipments to the United States in the coming weeks may want to prepare customers for delays as one shipping intelligence business said that a strike is probable.

The Loadstar reported that analysts at Linerlytica, that supplies data to the container shipping industry, said that the strike “now looks certain” as talks between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the US Maritime Alliance (USMX) make no progress on compensation and port automation. The extent of the disruption that could be caused by any industrial action cannot be underestimated, with the 14 ports represented by the ILA union, handling 28.4 million containers in 2023 or 550,000 TEU’s per week.

In addition to pay, the issue of automation at U.S. ports remains a major hurdle. In an interview this week, ILA leadership highlighted their stance on any impact on workers’ jobs. “Certain technologies we support because they make the job more efficient… as long as a human being is performing that job. But we’re completely against any type of robot taking over an actual human being’s job,” said Dennis Daggett

As the USMX remains hopeful of a negotiated settlement on behalf of employers, some shippers are already looking at directing traffic through the Canadian ports of Halifax and Montreal and using rail to move goods into the United States.