By Ian Putzger (The Loadstar) –
Even earlier than contract negotiations get underway, the specter of a strike shutting down US ports on the east and Gulf coasts subsequent yr is looming.
The Worldwide Longshoremen’s Affiliation (ILA), which represents 45,000 dockworkers on the ports, reaffirmed its dedication to strike if negotiations for a brand new labour contract don’t attain a fruitful conclusion by 30 September 2024, when the present six-year settlement expires.
In Nashville on Tuesday, ILA president Harold Daggett advised a whole lot of ILA members and officers on the union’s Instructional Convention to organize for a strike to start on 1 October, 2024.
He reiterated that there can be no extension of the present settlement if america Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents employers at east and Gulf value ports and the delivery strains serving them, fails to provide a deal.
At a union conference in July, Mr Daggett had mentioned: “If it goes to the wire, I’ll assure there shall be no extensions, and we shall be out on the road.”
And the bar for the looming contract negotiations is excessive. On Tuesday, Mr Daggett repeated that he anticipated to attain a landmark settlement. The ILA has not spelled out particular calls for, however on the west coast the Worldwide Longshoremen and Warehouse Union secured a 32% pay rise over six years, plus a one-time bonus for work carried out in the course of the pandemic.
Past remuneration, the ILA needs to make sure work at new terminals will go its members, a difficulty fraught with controversy. The union has sued USMX and two carriers, Hapag-Lloyd and OOCL, for $300m over a hybrid labour mannequin on the Leatherman Terminal in Charleston, arguing it violates the present grasp settlement.
The Nationwide Labor Relations Board dominated this yr that the union has the precise to sue employers, a ruling subsequently confirmed by a court docket of appeals. The difficulty is now earlier than the US Supreme Courtroom.
A 3rd flashpoint is the ILA’s stance to keep up prohibitions in opposition to terminal automation. Mr Daggett has made it clear that this opposition will proceed.
And he needs ILA native branches to start out negotiations early with the intention to resolve native points earlier than the grasp contract talks get going. This seems to be a lesson realized from the 13-month contract negotiations on the west coast, which have been held up for weeks and months by native points.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023.
