Dockworkers at 36 ports from Maine to Texas are back on the job today following a brief strike earlier this week.
A joint statement was issued late Thursday by the two sides. It said:
“The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. have reached a tentative agreement on wages and have agreed to extend the Master Contract until Jan. 15, 2025 to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues. Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume.”
The three-day strike by some 45,000 union members was suspended when the union is said to have agreed to a 62% wage increase over six years. The union had been seeking a 77% increase; USMX previously offered 50%.
The two sides agreed to return to the bargaining table to further discuss the issues of retirement benefits and the use of automation at the ports.
While President Joe Biden refused to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, which would have required workers to return to duty during an 80-day cooling off period, numerous administration members are said to have worked with both sides behind the scenes to reach a settlement.
An extended work stoppage would have cause extensive problems for many in the trucking industry and others in the nation’s supply chains. Numerous organizations, including trucking associations, appealed to Biden to intervene.
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