Some of the nation’s busiest ports are in devastating chaos after some 45,000 longshoremen represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) began retiring after their contracts expired in the middle of the night. We are preparing for
Negotiations between the ILA and the United States Maritime Union (USMX) over a new union contract broke down on Monday, affecting 36 ports along the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf Coast, with workers demanding a new union contract at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. The strike began at 1:00 p.m.
Workers began picketing at the Port of Philadelphia after midnight, walking in a circle at a railroad crossing outside the port and chanting, “No work without a fair contract,” the Associated Press reported. It is said that The Port of Virginia also confirmed the suspension of work.
The strike, the first by longshoremen on the US East Coast since 1977, threatens to close ports from Maine to Texas, disrupting supply chains and straining the US economy.
Negotiators on both sides of the table accused the other of refusing to negotiate. The ILA claims that USMX, which represents 40 marine terminals and port operators, is making “substandard” offers for worker pay increases, and that the introduction of automation at some U.S. ports has accused of violating the contract.
Strikes are estimated to cost the economy as much as $5 billion per day. The union says it will continue to handle military cargo and that passenger ships will not be affected.
USMX filed unfair labor practice charges against the union Wednesday with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging the union’s refusal to bargain. Ahead of Monday’s strike, USMX announced it had exchanged new wage proposals with the union. The union countered the accusations, calling them a “publicity stunt.”
Current wages under the contract, which expired Monday, range from $20 an hour to a maximum of $39 an hour. The union aims for a 77% pay increase in the six-year contract, reaching a maximum wage of $69 an hour by 2030.
Ahead of the strike, the AFL-CIO’s Transportation and Trade Department (TTD), the largest union federation in the United States, released a statement supporting the union.
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Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger wrote, “Let’s be clear: Employers, not workers, are shirking responsibility and holding labor negotiations at the 11th hour when the damage to people and the nation’s supply chain is most severe.” It has been postponed until now.” President and Financial Secretary of TTD. “USMX is trying to shift the blame to the front-line workers who keep the supply chain running, but they are also at fault.”
The White House is monitoring the rift between the union and USMX and is urging both sides to reach an agreement. The AFL-CIO called on House Republicans not to intervene by pushing for an injunction to stop the strike. Joe Biden said ahead of the strike that he had no intention of intervening to stop it.
