Washington, Oct 3 (EFE). – Longshoremen on the east coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico, represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), reached a tentative agreement with the USMX to end their strike.
The ILA said it had “reached a tentative agreement on wages and have agreed to extend the Master Contract until January 15, 2025, to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues.”
US President Joe Biden welcomed the tentative agreement on Thursday, saying collective bargaining “works.”
“I want to thank the union workers, the carriers, and the port operators for acting patriotically to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of critical supplies for Hurricane Helene recovery and rebuilding,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House.
“Collective bargaining works and it is critical to building a stronger economy from the middle out and the bottom up,” he added.
ILA Local 333 President Scott Cowan said in an interview with local media after the deal was announced, the deal involved a 61.5% wage increase over the next six years and includes language to protect workers from automation “and other issues that we need resolved.”
The New York Times reported that the workers won a 61.5% pay rise over the next six years, less than the 77% increase they had demanded, but more than the 50% increase originally offered.
Some 45,000 dockers who are members of the ILA union went on strike on Tuesday to force management to reach an agreement.
For the first time since 1977, the United States faced a shutdown of its ports, affecting 36 strategic terminals such as Elizabeth/Newark, Baltimore, Savannah, Houston, New Orleans, and Miami, which handle between 43% and 49% of the country’s maritime trade.
JP Morgan had estimated that for each day the strike lasted, there could be losses of around 5 billion dollars.
The closure of the port of Houston alone, the main port in the Gulf of Mexico, could result in daily losses of 100 million dollars in imports and exports, according to the Mitre Corporation, a Virginia-based think tank.
The US government had denied that the shutdown would have an immediate impact on the economy or prices, but the consumer goods, automotive, energy, and agricultural sectors could have been hardest hit if it had dragged on.
US President Joe Biden had said he would not invoke the provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, which would allow him to force a return to work for 80 days in the interests of national security.
This week, the president spoke out in favor of the dockworkers and urged management to improve their conditions. EFE mgr/mcd
