Strike looms at busiest US ports as 45,000 workers prepare to walk off job

Ten of the busiest ports in North America are at risk of shutdown next week, as a leading union warns that 45,000 workers stand ready to walk off the job if industry operators fail to make key concessions.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) has accused the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents 40 ocean carrier and terminal operators, of making “insulting offers” to staff demanding higher pay and commitments on automation.

Workers are slated to strike on Tuesday if a new agreement is not reached, hitting 36 ports along the east and Gulf coasts of the US in what would be the first work stoppage since 1977.

JP Morgan analysts have estimated a strike could cost the US economy $5bn per day. A one-day strike backlog could take an estimated four to six days to clear, according to analysts at Sea-Intelligence, a shipping advisory firm.

Bargaining between the two sides came to a halt in June after the union accused the USMX of violating the current contract by implementing the use of automation at ports, including in Mobile, Alabama. ILA leaders claimed the technology, an auto-gate system used to automate the processing of trucks into ports, was being used to replace union labor.

The union says it has been in contact with the USMX several times in recent weeks, but that the USMX has so far declined to increase its offer on pay.

The ILA is demanding significant wage increases, healthcare improvements, and no automated terminals or semi-automated terminals at the ports. For years, labor unions representing US port workers have criticized automation for resulting in significant job losses, while shipping corporation profits soared.

“USMX knows what our bottom line with wages needs to be for our ILA rank and file to ratify a new master contract agreement,” said Harold J Daggett, the ILA’s international president and chief negotiator. “They call me several times each week trying to get the ILA to accept a low-ball wage package.

“My ILA members are not going to accept these insulting offers that are a joke considering the work my ILA longshore workers perform, and the billion-dollar profits the companies make off the backs of their labor.”

Earlier this month, Daggett addressed members in a video on the looming strike, describing how port workers continued to work through the Covid pandemic – including those who died from the virus – as shipping corporations made billions of dollars in profits.

“The blame for a coast-wide strike in a week that will shut down all ports on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts falls squarely on the shoulders of USMX,” Daggett argued.

The union has pushed back on USMX claims about its wage demands, arguing a $5-an-hour wage increase for each year of the six-year contract is only a 9.98% annual increase. It has also alluded to garnering international support if workers do walk out on strike.

“Without a doubt, we are going to get support from the international dock-worker movement,” Dennis Daggett, executive vice-president of the ILA, said in a video address to members this month. “I’m not going to elaborate on that, but I will tell you this, it’s going to be the biggest display of international worker solidarity that this world has ever seen.”

In August last year, port workers on the west coast ratified a six-year agreement, covering 22,000 workers at 29 ports. The agreement included 32% wage increases for the life of the contract, which was retroactive to July 2022.

A spokesperson for the USMX shared the latest negotiating update, adding that it would be open to federal mediation. The union and USMX submitted forms in August to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, informing the agency of their dispute.

The USMX said: “Despite additional attempts by USMX to engage with the ILA and resume bargaining, we have been unable to schedule a meeting to continue negotiations on a new master contract. We remain prepared to bargain at any time, but both sides must come to the table if we are going to reach a deal, and there is no indication that the ILA is interested in negotiating at this time.”