Mobile County Circuit Judge Ben Brooks issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) Tuesday to prevent dock workers from striking at the Mobile Container Terminal, operated by APM Terminals. Next week, Circuit Judge Jill Phillips will hold hearing to determine if a preliminary injunction should be issued.

On Monday, APM Terminals filed a complaint against International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) Local 1410, alleging that union workers had engaged in a work stoppage at the container terminal’s rail yard. Under their collective bargaining agreement signed in 2020, union workers are not allowed to engage in any kind of strike or lockout.

But according to Mark Bass, president of Local 1410, the workers did not engage in any kind of work stoppage. Bass says that the workers attempted to raise a safety issue to management on Monday. Management at the terminal threatened to retaliate against the workers for raising the issue and told those workers to leave – Bass says they were suspended by APM. The union workers went to work Tuesday and were told to leave again.

“They’re calling it a wildcat strike, but [the workers] went to work this morning,” Bass said on Tuesday.

In a statement to the Lede, Kevin Doell, North American media relations manager for Maersk, APM Terminals’ parent company, said that “APM Terminals Mobile can confirm that there have been unauthorized labor actions which have disrupted operations at its rail facility. APMT Mobile has taken action to ensure that operations return to normal and will remain in active discussions with the local ILA leadership to ensure that normal operations resume as soon as possible.”