US port workers and operators reach deal to end East Coast strike immediately, union says
The three-day longshoreman strike that sparked panic in the US over potential supply chain issues is set to end immediately as dock workers and port operators reached a tentative deal, representatives for each group said Thursday.
The strike — which snarled incoming shipments at dozens of ports stretching from Maine to Texas — will end at least until Jan. 15 after the Internation Longshoremen’s Association, the union representing 45,000 dockworkers, and the US Maritime Alliance, which represents shippers and port operators, reached a tentative deal on wage increases.
“Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume,” both parties said in a joint statement.
Dockworkers will see an approximately 62% wage hike over six years under the new deal, a source familiar with the bargaining process told Reuters. The union had been asking for a 77% raise.
With the biggest issue — wages — settled, both sides have agreed to extend their master contract through Jan. 15, 2025, to continue bargaining on several other outstanding contract issues while dockhands are back at work. The extension buys both parties time to negotiate a new six-year contract.
The strike, which began just after midnight Tuesday when the prior contract expired, was the first time dock workers with the union walked off the job since 1977.
The walk-out blocked container ships from offloading their deliveries at 36 ports on the East and Gulf Coasts, which handle a combined $3 trillion of the nation’s annual international trade revenue.
Ports on the West Coast were unaffected since dock workers on that side of the country are represented by a different union.
A backlog of at least 45 container ships anchored outside the affected ports up and down the East and Gulf Coasts — including New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Houston and Miami — during the three-day effort.
If prolonged, the labor stoppage threatened to cause shipping delays and product shortages on everything from bananas and coffee to artificial Christmas trees and auto parts, increase consumer prices and throw the busy holiday shopping season into chaos.
The threat triggered shoppers to “panic buy” products like toilet paper and paper towels at local New York City area stories — even as experts said the strike wouldn’t affect paper products. Entire shelves were cleared at a Staten Island Costco and a Monmouth County Target, according to photos shared by shoppers.
President Joe Biden, who came out on the side of the striking workers during the walk-out, lauded the agreement in a statement Thursday.
“I want to applaud the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance for coming together to reopen the East Coast and Gulf ports. Today’s tentative agreement on a record wage and an extension of the collective bargaining process represents critical progress towards a strong contract.
With Post wires
