Tens of thousands of dockworkers at ports on the East and Gulf coasts, including Port Miami and Port Everglades, went on strike earlier this week. That came to an end late Thursday as a tentative deal has been reached.
In a joint statement, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) agreed on a tentative deal on wages and will give both sides until January 15 to negotiate a new contract.
“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 January 15, 2025 to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues,” the statement said.
“Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume.”
Reuters reported that the tentative agreement would increase workers’ wages by 62% over six years, according to a source familiar with the matter. The union had been seeking a 77% raise.
A video posted to X by user @alienmilian shows Miami dockworkers getting the news:
About the port strike
The strike involved nearly 50,000 members of ILA, North America’s largest longshoremen’s union, across ports from Maine to Texas. It began at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, becoming the union’s first major work stoppage since 1977. Workers hit the picket lines demanding higher wages and a promise that their jobs won’t be replaced by machinery.
While too soon to know exactly how the labor stoppage could have affected the U.S. economy, it stoked fears of increased prices and a decrease in goods on shelves. After all, just about every industry relies on these major ports to deliver shipments. If resolved quickly, it was likely that consumers wouldn’t notice any significant shortages aside from certain foods like bananas and chocolate, or wines and spirits.
Still, that didn’t stop many from going into panic mode, as toilet paper shortages were being reported at major outlets such as Walmart and Costco.
“I want to applaud the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance for coming together to reopen the East Coast and Gulf ports,” President Joe Biden hailed the agreement in a statement Thursday.
“Collective bargaining works, and it is critical to building a stronger economy from the middle out and the bottom up,” he added.