East Coast longshore workers with the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) are returning to work after three raucous days on the picket lines. They received a promise of a $24-an-hour pay raise over six years, bringing top pay from $39 to $63.
The strike paralyzed shipping in huge port complexes like Newark, Houston, and Charleston, stopping loads of fruit, vehicles, and heavy equipment. It was the first coastwide strike for the ILA since 1977.
The sides will return to bargaining on the other big issue of the strike, automation, extending the old agreement to January 15. The longshore union negotiates with a consortium of shippers and terminal operators known as the US Maritime Alliance, or USMX.
The union had leverage because of the upcoming presidential election, and as he pledged, President Joe Biden refused to break the strike by invoking the emergency powers available to him under Taft-Hartley.
The Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers demanded that Biden end the strike, claiming that reconstruction from Hurricane Helene would be hampered.
However, breaking a strike in this way would be risky for the employers, because port workers are in a strong position to institute slowdowns, which would leave ships unloaded and docks piled with goods for export.
Instead, Biden administration officials appear to have leaned heavily on the employers to settle. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called on shippers to stop adding surcharges, which could have increased their revenue, counteracting the costs of the…
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Auteur: Jenny Brown
