The labor union representing some 45,000 U.S. dockworkers reached a tentative agreement with port employers on Wednesday, averting a strike at East and Gulf Coast ports later this month.
In a joint statement, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) announced they reached an agreement on a six-year Master Contract, which gives the latter the ability to ratify the terms of the final contract.
“We are pleased to announce that ILA and USMX have reached a tentative agreement on a new six-year ILA-USMX Master Contract, subject to ratification, thus averting any work stoppage on January 15, 2025,” the two sides said in a joint statement. “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 – making them safer and more efficient and creating the capacity they need to keep our supply chains strong.”
The details of the tentative agreement will not be released in order to allow ILA rank-and-file members to review and approve the final document.
Both parties signed a tentative deal in October — which gave workers a 62% wage hike over six years — to end a three-day strike, but left issues related to automation unresolved.
But the two sides were still at an impasse over automation leading into the most recent round of negotiations. If a deal had not been reached and a second strike were to happen, the wage agreement agreed to in principle that ended the first strike would be taken off the table, and both sides would be back at square one.