The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) warns that a strike in the ports on the American Atlantic and Gulf coasts is becoming increasingly likely.
The reason for this is the slow pace of negotiations with the employers’ association, United States Maritime Alliance (USMX).
Contract between ILA and USMX expires
ILA Chairman Harold J. Dagett expressed concern about the slow progress. He pointed out that the employers organised in the USMX are running out of time: The current contract expires on 30 September. If no new agreement is reached by then, there is a threat of a coast-wide strike from 1 October. The contract between USMX and ILA was last ratified in 2018. It applies to 14,500 port workers on the east and west coasts of the USA.
Among other things, an autonomous system at the port of Mobile, Alabama, is causing particular friction between the associations. There, APM Terminals and Maersk automatically handle cargo on trucks – bypassing the ILA employees. As the ILA explained, such a system is already in use at other ports.
“There are only 80 days left until the end of our current contract and we are waiting for USMX,” said Daggett. “The breach of our current master agreement by some of their members has caused us to cancel negotiations with USMX scheduled for early June.”
“Auto-gate” drove a wedge between the parties
The ILA stated that they would not meet with USMX again until the “auto-gate issue” was resolved. As Daggett emphasised to US media, the ILA stands “fully and completely” behind its demands. If they are not met, the employees are prepared to strike.
Economists have already warned of the impact that a possible strike could have on the already fragile supply chains and appealed to the Ministry of Labor to intervene as a mediator. Interference from outside would not be tolerated, Daggett said. An extension of the existing contract is also out of the question.
However, it is still possible that both sides will come to an agreement. The ILA and the USMX (or its predecessors) have a long history together: ten new contracts have been concluded since a strike in 1977, and negotiations in 2012 and 2018 were successfully concluded without the port workers having to stop work.
