(Reuters) -The Worldwide Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) representing U.S. dockworkers has filed for a chapter 11 chapter safety to resolve a pending litigation with the Oregon affiliate of the Worldwide Container Terminal Providers Inc (ICTSI).

The union has listed its belongings and liabilities within the vary of $1 million to $10 million, in response to the Sept. 30 submitting made in a San Francisco court docket.

“Whereas we have now tried quite a few instances to resolve the decade-long litigation with ICTSI Oregon, at this level, the Union can now not afford to defend towards ICTSI’s scorched-earth litigation tactic”, stated ILWU Worldwide President Willie Adams.

“We intend to make use of the chapter 11 course of to implement a plan that can convey this matter to decision and be certain that our Union continues to do its vital work for our members and the neighborhood,” he added.

ICTSI stated in an announcement to Reuters that the chapter submitting was union’s “newest maneuver to keep away from accountability”.

The union is going through a looming trial over allegations it illegally slowed down operations over a number of years on the Port of Portland, then operated by an affiliate of Philippines-based maritime firm, in response to a Wall Avenue Journal report.

The ILWU, which has over 4,000 members throughout the US and Canada, stated it is going to file customary “First Day” motions with the court docket to keep up its money administration system as a part of its reorganization course of.

The union in August ratified a six-year contract for U.S dockworkers that improved pay and advantages for 22,000 staff at 29 ports stretching from California to Washington State.