US dockworkers approve six-year contract, averting a strike
The contract calls for a 62% pay hike over six years that would lift hourly wages at the top of the union pay scale from $39 an hour to $63 an hour.
ILA President Harold Daggett, who served as the union's chief negotiator, was quoted in the statement as saying the agreement is 'the 'gold standard' for dockworker unions globally.'
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He remarked that it was a difficult contract to negotiate and even required a three-day strike last fall, but 'We now have labor peace for the next six years.'
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The union and the alliance also reached a truce on the most contentious labor issue on America's docks: automation. The union worries that machines — especially semi-automated cranes — will replace human workers. Port operators and shipping companies argue that U.S. ports are falling behind more automated ones such as those in Rotterdam, Dubai and Singapore.
The new contract gives ports more leeway to introduce modernizing technology. But they have to hire new workers when they do, and full automation is off the table.
'The pending contract opens the door a little more for advanced technology and automation,' Brian Lynch, leader of the transportation sector at the consulting firm EY Americas, said before the vote. 'The door's cracked a bit.'
The union went on the three-day strike in October but suspended it to allow for more talks. A prolonged shutdown at 14 ports stretching from Boston to Houston could have delayed shipments to American factories and retailers and driven up costs.
The two sides are expected to meet the week of March 10 to sign the agreement, after which it would go into effect.
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Before his inauguration, President Donald Trump voiced support for the union. Claiming to 'know just about everything there is to know' about automation, Trump wrote on social media, 'The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen.'
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Despite reports of friction between Netanyahu and Trump, and rumors of US pressure to secure a ceasefire and prisoner deal, the Israeli delegation walked away from Doha negotiations with nothing to show. No sign of American pressure followed. Instead, after a Trump-Netanyahu phone call, the Prime Minister's Office reported that the US president reaffirmed his support for 'securing the release of all hostages and the elimination of Hamas' – a clear signal that he rejected European objections and was doing nothing to restrain Israel. – Abdulwahab Badrakhan Translated by Asaf Zilberfarb. All assertions, opinions, facts, and information presented in these articles are the sole responsibility of their respective authors and are not necessarily those of The Media Line, which assumes no responsibility for their content.
