Operators of East and Gulf Coast port terminals said they won’t continue bargaining with union dockworkers if it means giving up their right to invest in semi-automated cargo handling equipment.

Imports at the Port of Los Angeles last month totaled 462,740 20-foot-equivalent units, or TEUs. The port also handled 122,716 export containers and 319,570 empty containers in October.

The Port of Long Beach moved nearly 1 million containers in October, beating a record set just two months ago.

The U.S. dockworkers union that halted cargo at every major port on the country’s eastern and southern coasts last month has called off talks with their employers over automation.

Dockworkers are set to meet with their employers in New Jersey, resuming negotiations on the key issue of automation that sparked a three-day strike at East and Gulf Coast ports last month.

Several terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are closed Sept. 27 after a big rig overturned on a vital roadway and the lithium batteries it was carrying caught fire.

Some 45,000 dockworkers at every major eastern and Gulf coast port are threatening to strike Oct. 1.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which account for roughly a third of all U.S. container imports, have seen a surge this summer.

The union representing East and Gulf coast dockworkers kicks off a two-day meeting Sept. 4 in New Jersey to discuss wage demands with port employers under the threat of a disruptive strike.

The busiest port complex in the U.S. is churning through import volumes near the highs set during the pandemic despite worries about a cooling economy.