The International Longshoremen’s Association, the union that represents striking American dockworkers at East Coast and Gulf ports, reached an agreement in principle On Thursday, he will suspend his strike until January 15 to negotiate a new contract.
The strike had close 14 ports along the Eastern and Gulf coasts since Tuesday.
The agreement was reached with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), a shipping industry group representing terminal operators and ocean carriers.
The two parties “reached an agreement in principle on salaries and agreed to extend the framework contract until January 15, 2025, in order to return to the negotiating table to negotiate all other outstanding issues”, indicated the ILA and USMX in a joint statement Thursday evening. the agreement.
The press release adds that “all ongoing actions will cease and all work covered by the framework contract will resume”.
In an interview with CBS News Baltimore immediately after the deal was announced, ILA Local 333 President Scott Cowan said the deal involved a 61.5 percent pay increase over the course of for the next six years and included provisions to protect workers from automation “and other problems we need to solve.” “.
The Port of New York and New Jersey said on social media that facilities would remain closed Friday despite the USMX deal, and more details will follow.
In a statement released Thursday evening, President Biden applauded both parties “for coming together to reopen East Coast and Gulf ports.”
“Today’s tentative agreement on record pay and an extension of the collective bargaining process represents crucial progress toward a strong contract. I congratulate ILA dockworkers, who deserve a strong contract after sacrificing so much to keep our ports open during the pandemic. “And I applaud the port operators and carriers who are members of the American Maritime Alliance for working hard and putting a strong offer on the table.”
How much do dockworkers earn?
Before launching the strike, the ILA had demanded a 77% wage increase, the equivalent of an increase of $5 per hour for each contract year. The USMX last week proposed a nearly 50 percent raise, along with improvements to employee benefits, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the first strike by East Coast and Gulf dockworkers in nearly half a century.
Under the terms of the dockers’ latest employment contract with the USMX, starting salary for a longshoreman was $20 an hour and topped out at $39, or a little over $81,000 a year. Some dockworkers can earn more than $100,000 working overtime.
The union also called for a total ban on cargo terminals using cranes, gates and automated container movers to load and unload cargo.
Union members will not need to vote on the temporary suspension of the strike. Until January 15, workers will be covered by the old contract, which expired on September 30.
Experts had warned that a prolonged strike could block the import and export of a number of products, including food, factory parts and raw materials such as wood and copper. Economists also fear that a long work stoppage could potentially drive up inflation and even lead to shortages of certain products.
The agreement in principle to end the strike lifts a cloud for the Biden administration, which had dispatched officials from the White House, the Department of Labor and the Department of Transportation to pressure the USMX and ILA to resolve their differences.
The agreement is also a victory for ILA President Harold Daggett and, more broadly, for unions in the United States, which are increasingly pushing a number of companies to share more of their profits with workers and strengthen job security. In 2023, for example, the United Auto Workers won significant concessions from automakers after a six-week strike.
In another high-profile dispute, the union representing film and television actors in November concluded a new employment contract with Hollywood studios increasing artists’ salaries while putting safeguards on the use of artificial intelligence.
At the same time, the percentage of workers in unions has fallen to 10% in 2023, from more than 20% in 1983, according to federal labor data.
