US dockworkers struck a deal with their employers, averting a strike that could have crippled shipping
- The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the US Maritime Alliance have struck a deal.
- This deal averted a potential strike involving thousands of dockworkers.
- The strike would have crippled shipping lines along the East and Gulf Coasts.
The International Longshoremen's Association and the US Maritime Alliance said Wednesday they had agreed on a new six-year master contract.
The two sides said in a joint statement that this will allow them to avoid any work stoppages on January 15.
"This agreement protects current ILA jobs and establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while modernizing East and Gulf coast ports β making them safer and more efficient, and creating the capacity they need to keep our supply chains strong," the joint statement read, adding that the deal was a "win-win agreement."
The ILA and USMX said they would get their members to review and approve the agreement before it is released publicly. For now, both sides will continue to operate under their current contract until the terms of the new agreement are ratified via a vote.
The strike would have potentially paralyzed shipping lines along the East and Gulf Coasts.
Details of the agreement were not made public, but the joint statement said dockworkers received some protections against having their jobs replaced by automation, which was one of the union's key concerns.
The ILA had the support of President-elect Donald Trump, who said in a Truth Social post in December that the amount of money saved by automation on US docks was "nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen."
Members of the ILA previously went on strike in October for three days. The strike ended when the union secured higher pay, while other contract negotiations continued, and members returned to work. That agreement provided a 62% pay increase over the next six years.