With a lack of clarity regarding the stalled negotiations for a new Master Contract between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), a letter penned by 267 trade associations, led by the National Retail Federation (NRF), to ILA President Harold Daggett and USMX Chairman and CEO David Adam, called on them to return to the negotiating table, in advance of January 15, when the current contract between the parties expires.
As previously reported by LM, ILA and USMX resumed Master Contract discussions in November, “to discuss all outstanding issues to reach a new contract,” in advance of a January 15, 2025 deadline for a new deal. This followed a brief three-day strike on October 1, after the expiration of their previous six-year contract, which resulted in 36 East and Gulf Coast ports, stretching from Maine to Texas, going on strike for the first time since 1977.
The associations writing the letter represent various types of supply chain stakeholders, including American manufacturers, farmers and agribusinesses, wholesalers, retailers, importers, exporters, distributors, and transportation and logistics providers, among others.
“It is imperative for the parties to resume negotiations and remain at the table until a new contract is reached,” the letter stated. “We know significant issues remain between the parties. However, we continue to believe the only way to resolve these issues and come to an agreement is to actually stay at the negotiating table. The continuing start and stop of the negotiations leads to further uncertainty in the supply chain, which continues to cause challenges. The three-day strike in October had a significant impact on supply chain stakeholders that rely on the East Coast and Gulf Coast ports. The additional costs from mitigation efforts as well as post-strike resumption are still being felt. Companies have continued to implement mitigation strategies because of the ongoing threat of another strike in mid-January if a new contract is not achieved.”
ILA and USMX resumed Master Contract discussions in November, “to discuss all outstanding issues to reach a new contract,” in advance of a January 15, 2025 deadline for a new deal.
USMX said, at the time, that there was positive progress on a number of issues, but they were unable to make significant progress on discussions focusing on a range of technology issues.
“Unfortunately, the ILA is insisting on an agreement that would move our industry backward by restricting future use of technology that has existed in some of our ports for nearly two decades—making it impossible to evolve to meet the nation’s future supply chain demands,” said USMX.
The ILA countered, saying that for the first day and a half of meetings last month, discussions were productive, and both sides engaged in addressing serious issues but talks subsequently broke down when management introduced their intent to implement semi-automation, which ILA labeled “a direct contradiction to their opening statement where they assured us that neither full nor semi-automation would be on the table.”
ILA added that USMX claimed their focus was on modernization, not automation. And it added that ILA has always supported modernization when it leads to increased volumes and efficiency.
“For over 13 years, our position has been clear: we embrace technologies that improve safety and efficiency, but only when a human being remains at the helm,” said ILA. “Automation, whether full or semi, replaces jobs and erodes the historical work functions we’ve fought hard to protect.”
The letter’s authors made it clear they understand that automation and technology continues to be the biggest issue of disagreement between the parties, adding that they continue to believe there is a path forward for the parties to address this issue.
“It is critical that our ports and terminals have the ability to modernize their systems and processes in order to remain globally competitive and be able to handle the continuing rise of trade volumes, both imports and exports, through our ports,” stated the letter. “Modernization can only happen through true partnership between labor and management, as well as the other supply chain stakeholders that rely on these ports. Modernization efforts will benefit all parties and are essential to address current and future throughput issues.”
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