A mediator is expected to go back to the union and port company in the next week with proposals to resolve the impasse.
MU president Garry Parsloe said the union is committed to continuing every effort to come to a collective agreement and would respond in a positive way to the recommendations put forward.
But Mr Parsloe also said the union also wants certainty over start times and time off and a commitment from the company that it will not contract out work to non-MU labour.
Said Auckland Mayor Len Brown: "The dispute has dragged on far too long and in doing so, has not been good for the port workers, their union, the port company or, in fact, Auckland as a whole."