Labor negotiations for East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, previously on a fast track, have hit a speed bump. The next step in the two-pronged U.S. longshore contract talks had gotten an early start well ahead of the expiration of the contract next year. But, the Wall Street Journal reports, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) has halted the negotiations, with union chief Harold Daggett saying the employers weren’t willing to meet labor’s demands.

The stance signals a tougher line for negotiations covering ports from Texas to Maine, as West Coast dockworkers prepare to vote on the tentative agreement that was recently reached there. That contract, with its 32% pay increase over six years and a “hero bonus,” may offer some guidelines for an ILA agreement. 

The ILA contract doesn’t expire until Sept. 30, 2024. But importers and exporters had seen the early talks as a positive sign at a time of rising tensions between unions and employers.