Dockworkers’ union suspends strike until Jan. 15 to allow time to negotiate new contract
DETROIT– About 45,000 longshoremen at East and Gulf Coast ports are returning to work after their union reached an agreement to suspend a strike that lasted until shortages and higher prices if it had lasted.
The International Longshoremen’s Association is suspending its three-day strike until January 15 to allow time to negotiate a new contract. The union and the US Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies, said in a joint statement that they had reached a tentative agreement on wages.
A person briefed on the deal said the ports have reduced their wage offer from about 50% over six years to 62%. The person did not want to be identified because the agreement is preliminary. Any wage increase would have to be approved by union members as part of the ratification of a final contract.
The conversations are now about… automation of portswhich, according to the unions, will lead to fewer jobs and other bottlenecks.
Industry analysts have said that for every day of a port strike, it takes four to six days to recover. But they said a short strike of a few days would likely not worsen the supply chain too much.
The settlement pushes the strike and any deficits beyond the November presidential election, eliminating a potential liability for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. It’s also a big plus for the Biden-Harris administration, which has billed itself as the most union-friendly in American history. Shortages could have pushed up prices and reignited inflation.
The union went on strike early Tuesday after the contract expired over a wage dispute the automation of tasks in 36 ports stretching from Maine to Texas. The strike came at the height of the holiday season at the ports, which handle about half the cargo of ships moving in and out of the United States.
Most retailers had stocked or shipped items early in anticipation of the strike.
“By the grace of God and the goodwill of the neighbors, this will hold,” President Joe Biden told reporters Thursday evening after the agreement.
In a statement later, Biden applauded both sides “for their patriotic action to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of critical supplies for Hurricane Helene recovery and rebuilding.”
Biden said collective bargaining is “critical to building a stronger economy, from the center and the bottom up.”
Union members do not have to vote on the temporary suspension of the strike. Until January 15, the employees are covered by the old contract, which expired on September 30.
The union demanded a 77% wage increase over six years, plus a complete ban on the use of automation at the ports, which members see as a threat to their jobs. Both sides were also divided over the issues of pension contributions and the distribution of royalties paid on containers moved by workers.
Thomas Kohler, a labor law lecturer at Boston College, said the agreement to end the strike means the two sides are close to a final agreement.
“I’m sure if they weren’t going anywhere they wouldn’t have suspended the strike,” he said. ‘They have wages. They will work out the language on automation, and I’m sure what this really means is that it gives the parties time to sit down and get exactly the language they can both live with.
Kohler said the strike’s surprise end could throw railroads out of position with cars, locomotives and crews. But the railroads will likely move quickly to fix that.
Just before the strike began, the Maritime Alliance said both sides had scrapped their original wage proposals, a tentative offer sign of progress.
Thursday’s deal came after Biden administration officials met with foreign-owned shipping companies before dawn on Zoom, according to a person briefed on the day’s events who asked not to be identified because the conversations were private. The White House wanted to increase pressure for a settlement and emphasized the responsibility to reopen the ports to help with the recovery from Hurricane Helene, the person said.
Acting Labor Minister Julie Su told them she could get the union to the negotiating table to extend the contract if the carriers made a higher wage offer. Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told the airlines to make a bid by the end of the day so that a man-made attack wouldn’t worsen a natural disaster, the person said.
By midday, Maritime Alliance members agreed to a large increase, which the person said sealed the deal.
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AP writers Darlene Superville and Josh Boak in Washington and Annie Mulligan in Houston contributed to this report.