ILA Prepares for First U.S. East Coast Dock Strike Since 1977

 

The International Longshoremen’s Association is wrapping up its two days of meetings saying that it has “unanimous support” from delegates representing the 13 major port areas on the U.S. East and Gulf Coast. Saying they remain far apart with employers on a new six-year contract, ILA leadership was unrelenting in its demands.

“We must be prepared if we have to hit the streets at 12:01 am on Tuesday, October 1, 2024,” ILA President Harold Daggett told the delegates at the Wage Scale meeting. He said it would be “monumental if we are without a new Master Contract.”

The last coast-wide ILA strike was in 1977 when it was a completely different industry. Daggett called that a “tough strike,” noting they were out for three months for an 80-cent increase in wages. Industry analysts note that a strike would hit mostly containers which account for the bulk of the modern industry while tankers and liquid cargo would be less affected. Ro-Ro traffic however would be impacted.

The ILA reaches from Maine to Florida and along the Gulf Coast with members handling the docks at 36 ports. Daggett however in a video presentation also shared his vision of building a global unified union of dockworkers. He also talked of his role in the 1977 strike when he was a young dockworker sent to the West Coast to prevent cargo diverting from the strike.

“The ILA proposal not only makes up for the past few years of extremely high inflation, and long-term inflation going back decades from when a $1 per hour increase was a fair raise, but the proposal also ensures the financial security of ILA members and their families through the uncertainty of the coming years,” said Daggett. 

During the presentation, he told members the union and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) representing the terminal operators are at an impasse. The ILA says they cannot even get past the economic issues and also have demands for better healthcare and a ban on all automated and semi-automated services. Unconfirmed earlier reports said the ILA was seeking to roll back previous agreements on automation and demands continuation of payments to members for the decreased employment that resulted from the industry’s move to containerization.

The union presented its Strike Mobilization Plan to members while Daggett said, “There is a real chance we will not have an agreement in place.” They noted it is just 26 days till the master contract expires and reports are that they have not settled local issues in ports including Mobile, Alabama, and both Jacksonville and Tampa in Florida. The union has been refusing master contract negotiations citing an automation issue in Mobile.

“We are hopeful that both parties are committed to reaching a mutually beneficial agreement, ensuring the continued efficiency and robustness of supply chains,” Maersk told customers in its latest North American update. “However, should a contract not be finalized, the potential for a strike remains, which could result in localized or broader disruptions. Even a short disruption could require weeks to fully resolve, leading to significant backlogs and delays.”

So far, the White House has only said that it is monitoring the situation. Last year, the Labor Department however stepped into the West Coast dockworkers dispute and helped to expedite an agreement on a new contract. 

The ILA has a “no strike” clause in its current contract. The expiration is just over three weeks away and while the USMX in a statement on Friday said it is seeking to resume talks, the ILA is showing no movement back to the negotiating table.