Union negotiations covering longshore workers on the East and Gulf Coasts have been stalled since June 10, bringing the union closer to a potential strike at the September 30 contract expiration.
Leaders of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) have called a September 4-5 delegates meeting to discuss demands and strike strategy. Last week the union sent the employer association, known as USMX, a strike notice that federal law requires sixty days before a strike.
The contract between the ILA and the USMX is one of the largest expiring this year, and a strike would have massive economic impact — billions of dollars per day.
Negotiations broke down in June over union allegations that the port of Mobile, Alabama, as well as other unnamed ports, had automated some processing of trucks entering and leaving the docks — work traditionally done by ILA members.
Union leadership and the USMX have not held public negotiations since.
The ILA represents longshore workers on the East and Gulf Coasts and the Great Lakes, while the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) represents longshore workers on the West Coast, and in Hawaii, Alaska, and Canada.
ILA president Harold Daggett is one of the highest-paid union leaders in the United States; last year through multiple salaries he made $900,000. Other ILA leaders also collect multiple salaries; among them is Daggett’s son, the executive vice president, who made $700,000 last year.
While the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on the West Coast are the nation’s largest by container…
La suite est à lire sur: jacobin.com
Auteur: Joe DeManuelle-Hall
