The strike is over. The sun is shining again in US East Coast ports.
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. (USMX) have announced in a joint press release that they had reached a provisional agreement on salaries, agreeing to extend their National Contract until 15th January 2025,so that they can return to the bargaining table and negotiate all the other outstanding issues, above all automation, a formidable weapon to increase terminal efficiency to the detriment, however, of employment. Workers see it as the evil of all evils,
All forms of protest have therefore terminated immediately.
So the tsunami that hit the 36 East Coast ports on October 1st, with 45,000 workers from New England to Texas crossing their arms, didn’t last very long.
The new deal includes a 61% pay rise i.e. $4 more an hour.
US President Joe Biden expressed his satisfaction in a White House press release. He appreciated the effort made by the ILA and USMX to overcome their recent deadlock. “Today’s tentative agreement on a record wage and an extension of the collective bargaining process represents critical progress towards a strong contract”, he said.
“I congratulate the dockworkers from the ILA, who deserve a strong contract after sacrificing so much to keep our ports open during the pandemic. And I applaud the port operators and carriers who are members of the US Maritime Alliance for working hard and putting a strong offer on the table.”
Translation by Giles Foster