ILA port strike ends with provisional agreement

ILA port strike ends with provisional agreement

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The strike at East and Gulf Coast ports ended Thursday, and cargo operations are expected to resume at several ports.

​The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance announced the news in a joint statement Thursday evening.

According to the statement, the two parties have reached a preliminary agreement on wages and the extension of their framework agreement until January 15, 2025. Both parties also agreed to return to the negotiating table to negotiate all other outstanding issues.

The agreements ended a three-day strike that began Tuesday and paralyzed operations at several East and Gulf Coast ports after negotiations stalled over automation and wage issues.

Both parties had tried to prevent a strike by exchanging counteroffers in the hours before the disruption. But the union rejected USMX’s offer at the time, saying it “fell far short of the demands of rank-and-file ILA members on wages and protections against automation.”

As the strike progressed, the Biden-Harris administration pressured USMX to offer a contract that reflected longshore workers’ contributions, while making it clear that the government would not intervene to stop the strike.

With a tentative agreement on wages, freight operations can now resume at union-operated ports. “Effective immediately, all current work activities will cease and all work covered under the framework agreement will resume,” ILA and USMX said in a joint statement.

Some ports have already announced plans to reopen on Friday.

Port Houston will reopen at 1:00 p.m. CT with extended gate hours on Saturday. The Georgia Ports Authority will open its truck gates at 6 a.m. ET at the Garden City Terminal and at 8 a.m. ET at the Ocean Terminal. Meanwhile, North Carolina Ports announced that normal operations will resume at 8 a.m. ET.

In recent statements, President Joe Biden, acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg praised both parties for the tentative agreement.

“As President Biden, Vice President Harris and this administration have said time and time again, collective bargaining works,” Su said in a statement Thursday. “I congratulate the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance on reaching a preliminary agreement on a strong wage package that will allow East Coast and Gulf ports to reopen while the parties complete negotiations on a new contract.”

Buttigieg said the Department of Transportation will work closely with supply chain stakeholders “to support an orderly process to restart these ports and promote a good outcome in subsequent contract negotiations.”