ILA UNION ON STRIKE IN 36 US PORTS – Teamsters Warn Biden To ‘Stay Out of This Fight’

October 1, 2024

Members of the International Longshoreman Association (“ILA”) Union are on strike and starting to gather at outside US ports from Texas to Maine.

“We are officially out on strike, our contract ended at midnight,” Bernie ODonnell, international Vice President for ILA New England told reporters. “We plan on being here 24/7 until we get a good contract. We are looking for a fair contract and we are fighting automation.”

The United States Maritime Alliance (“USMX”) says On September 30 it raised its offer which would increase wages by nearly 50%, triple employer contributions to employee retirement plans and strengthen USMX’s health care options. The offer was rejected by the ILA. The current contract, which covers approximately 45,000 port workers across 36 ports on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts expired at midnight this morning.

“The USMX increased our offer and has also requested an extension of the current contract, now that both sides have moved of their previous positions,” the USMX said in a statement issued late Monday afternoon. “We are hopeful that this could allow us to fully resume collective bargaining around the other outstanding issues – in an effort to reach an agreement.”

In solidarity with the ILA the powerful Teamsters Union issued a statement warning the Biden Administration to “stay out of this fight”.

“The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, including our members in the freight industry, stand in full solidarity with the International Longshoremen’s Association,” said a statement from the teamsters. “The U.S. government should stay out of this fight and allow union workers to withhold their labor for the wages and benefits they have earned. Any workers—on the road, in the ports, in the air-should be able to fight for a better life free of government interference. Corporations for too long have been able to rely on political puppets to help them strip working people of their inherent leverage.”

In a statement earlier on Monday, the ILA accused the USMX of continuing “to block the path toward a settlement” by refusing the ILA’s demands over wages and automation and alleged the employers’ group seemed “intent on causing a strike” at all ports from Maine to Texas. The ILA statement cited USMX’s refusal to meet “fair contract” demands as the strike’s main cause. It criticized ocean carriers represented by USMX, claiming they seek “billion-dollar profits” from U.S. ports at the expense of American workers, benefiting foreign conglomerates.

The union also accused the ocean carriers of “gouging their customers,” pointing to a dramatic increase in container shipping costs. “They are now charging $30,000 for a full container, a whopping increase from $6,000 per container just a few weeks ago,” the ILA said.

Supply chain professionals say this will cause shortages in everything from ripe bananas to critical medicine and manufacturing parts and J.P. Morgan estimates that a strike could cost the U.S. economy $5 billion a day. One ILA union member commented, “the general public still isn’t taking the strike seriously.”