The American Meat Institute (AMI) has joined a livestock and poultry product industry coalition urging President Barack Obama to prevent an impending strike at container ports from Maine to Texas. The contract between the International Longshoreman’s Association and the US Maritime Alliance is set to expire on Dec. 29, and negotiations that began in April have failed to produce an agreement. A letter to the President urges the use of all measures including the Taft-Hartley Act to keep the two sides at the negotiating table, and notes that the industry cannot afford further disruption in the supply chain entering 2013. To read the full letter, click here.