Facing a dire countdown to the first dock strike in decades, employers at East and Gulf Coast ports say a new contract is still within reach, and publicly called for the International Longshoremen’s Association to return to contract talks. "There has been no further progress on Master Contract negotiations – we remain committed to the bargaining process and need the ILA to return to the table," the United States Maritime Exchange (USMX) said in a brief statement Friday. The ILA, with the current contract set to expire Sept. 30, has set a strike deadline of Oct. 1. Officials on both sides have been reluctant to comment, and it’s unclear when the two sides last met for a formal bargaining session. "While there are fewer than three weeks remaining until the expiration of our current agreement – if the ILA is willing to meet – it is still possible to agree to terms on a new Master Contract," the USMX said. In a Sept. 7 message to ILA members, President Harold Daggett and his brother, Executive Vice President Dennis Daggett, accused employers of "putting profits over people" with what employers described as an industry-leading wage and with regard to automation, and wrote that the sides remained far apart on a new master contract. Published reports say employers have offered a 77% pay raise over the six years of a new pact. West Coast dockworkers represented by the International Longshoremen’s and Warehouse Union approved a 3