BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Businesses that ship goods up and down the Mississippi River are suing the agency that sets river pilots' salaries, claiming the agency is biased toward the pilots.

The river pilots' pay will average nearly $474,000 in 2019.

The Louisiana Chemical Association claims the pilots got the Louisiana Pilotage Fee Commission packed in their favor, and appointment procedures need to be changed.

The president of a pilots' group tells the Advocate there aren't any allegations of wrongdoing, and the issue should be dead.

The chemical association tried unsuccessfully to get the governor to remove three commissioners they say are biased, or to get the commissioners to step aside.

Two have resigned - one soon after her appointment in 2016. Another told the newspaper that he resigned during the recent holidays.