ILA President, Harold Daggett, has announced that threat of 1 October strike at Atlantic and Gulf Coast Ports are growing more likely as current contract with USMX expires in 80 Days.
The leader of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) said the threat of a strike at all Atlantic and Gulf Coast Ports is becoming more likely as time is growing short before the current contract expires in 80 days, on 30 September 2024.
Harold J. Daggett, ILA President and the union’s Chief Negotiator, said that the employers represented by United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) are running out of time to negotiate a new Master Contract agreement and avoid and coastwide strike on 1 October 2024.
“Only 80 days remain before the end of our current contract and we are waiting on USMX,” said ILA President Daggett.
“The actions of violating our current Master Contract by some of their members caused us to cancel scheduled negotiations with USMX in early June.”
The ILA canceled Master Contract talks with USMX after discovering that APM Terminals (APMT) and Maersk Line were utilising an Auto Gate system, which autonomously processes trucks without ILA labour.
This system, initially identified at the Port of Mobile, Alabama, is reportedly being used in other ports as well. The ILA said on 10 June 2024, that it would not meet with USMX until the Auto Gate issue is resolved.
Additionally, the union is still waiting on results from an audit for jobs created out of new technology, a report they have been anticipating for almost two contract periods. The ILA has observed an increasing number of IT personnel on marine terminals, with concerns that APMT and Maersk’s IT departments in Charlotte, North Carolina, are encroaching on their jurisdiction.
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President Daggett said the ILA rank-and-file members are 100 per cent behind him and are willing to “hit the streets” on 1 October 2024, if the union’s contract demands are not met.
“We will not entertain any discussions about extending the current contract, nor are we interested in any help from outside agencies to interfere in our negotiations with USMX,” said President Daggett. “This includes the Biden Administration and the Department of Labor.”
Whenever USMX resumes negotiations, the ILA said it expects shipping companies to recognise the contributions ILA longshore workers made during the pandemic, when ports remained open, allowing companies to record billion-dollar profits.
Earlier this month, a dock foreman representing a union in British Columbia, Canada levied a 72-hour strike notice against its employer DP World.
