Major maritime strike could threaten ports across the East Coast

A major strike is on the horizon for thousands of maritime workers, posing a threat to East Coast ports responsible for billions of dollars of goods. 

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), the largest union of maritime workers in North America, has vocalized plans to go on strike at all of its Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports Oct. 1 if a new contract agreement can’t be reached with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX). The union is arguing for better wages and continued protections against automation and new technology in its terminals.

“A sleeping giant is ready to roar on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, if a new Master Contract Agreement is not in place,” ILA President Harold J. Daggett said in a statement Monday.  “My members have been preparing for over a year for that possibility of a strike.”

According to a statement from USMX, negotiations with the ILA began in the last week of May. Now, the union’s current six-year contract is less than two weeks away from expiring.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told NBC News that while it is not at the table for the ILA-USMX negotiations, the agency is “closely monitoring developments and remain hopeful.” 

“For the over 600,000 regional jobs our port supports and the $240 billion in goods moved through here each year, we urge both sides to find common ground and keep the cargo flowing for the good of the national economy,” Steve Burns, a spokesperson for the Port Authority, added in a statement. 

The ILA has argued that the USMX is denying workers fair contracts with adequate wage raises and proper benefits. 

“USMX claims to offer industry-leading wages, however, their interpretation of ‘leading wages’ is polar opposite to ours,” a statement from the ILA on Monday said. 

“Our members are struggling to pay their mortgages and rent, car payments, groceries, utility bills, taxes, and in some cases, their children’s education. USMX’s corporate greed has made them delusional — profits over people. They have taken advantage of a low entry-wage and a tiered progression system for thirty years,” the statement continued. 

The union said its rank-and-file members will no longer accept contracts that include small wage increases of a dollar or less. It argued further that for more than three decades, ILA workers only saw annual wage increases of 2.02% per year on average — with some years having wage raise percentages of zero, according to the ILA statement. 

USMX declined to comment on any of the specifics of the current or past contracts. 

“Since USMX would rather leak our wage demands to the media, instead of reporting on the record billion-dollar profits of their member companies, I can say ‘yes, we are looking for a much higher percent increase in our wages,’” Daggett said in a statement. 

According to a Sept. 5 statement from USMX, the current offer to the union includes “industry leading wage increases,” and a retention of the existing technology language in the current agreement, which the alliance argues already formalizes that there will be no fully-automated terminals and no implementation of semi-automated equipment without agreement by both parties. It also boasts higher starting wages, health care coverage and increases to employer retirement contributions. 

USMX has released several statements since the initial bargaining meeting in late May, stating that the agency is committed to having negotiations with the ILA. 

“We have tremendous respect for the ILA and its members, but it is disappointing that we have reached this point where the ILA is unwilling to reopen dialogue unless all of its demands are met,” said the USMX’s most recent statement on Monday. “The only way to resolve this impasse is to resume negotiations, which we are willing to do at any time.” 

However, the ILA has said repeatedly that the USMX’s statements are “propaganda,” and “designed to mislead and divide” the union. 

According to negotiation updates from USMX, the ILA has not returned to the bargaining table since mid-July. In all of its updates since July 18, USMX has maintained that the union refuses to return to negotiations.

The ILA did not respond to a request for comment on the USMX’s stance that the union won’t meet to reopen negotiations.

The ILA and USMX will need to agree upon a new master contract by Oct. 1, before the current six-year contract expires and the ILA pledges to go on strike.