Three days. Three days is all it took for the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) to crush the spirit of the United States Maritime Alliance. (USMX) In exchange for 62% raises over the life of a 6-year contract, the union announced that it has suspended its strike of ports up and down the East Coast and along the Gulf of Mexico. This moves the pay for these workers from, close to, $39 an hour to roughly $62 an hour by the end of the contract.
The ILA represents roughly 45,000 workers and is the largest maritime union. Their vice-like grip on work at the ports gives them significant leverage in negotiations and over the flow of the economy. Despite memes shared on social media, this strike would have eventually caused issues for goods made in the country and goods made out of the country. We live in a global economy and this would have impacted goods entering the country and being exported from our ports.
Editors Note: There was no reason to hoard toilet paper! Please stop doing that. Also, it takes maybe 5 minutes to install a bidet. Buy one.
On October 3rd, the ILA reached a tentative agreement on wages and agreed to extend the Master Contract until January 15, 2025 to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues, where sizable issues still remain. The extension of the contract is the notable part, because the wage increases will not be applied to work until a new contract is signed. The union has assured members that they will receive the raises on work performed after October 1st, 2024 retroactively.
The ILA issued the following update on priorities for continued negotiations:
- Jurisdiction Protections: Securing and expanding our historical work jurisdiction is at the heart of these negotiations. We are fighting to guarantee that ILA members continue to handle key tasks at port facilities, such as manning cranes and servicing equipment, preventing employers from outsourcing these jobs to non-union workers or automated systems.
- Automation Protections: The fight against automation is not just about job preservation; it is about ensuring that ILA members continue to play an essential role in port operations. By extending negotiations, we aim to establish strong protections against the introduction of remote-controlled or fully automated machinery that threatens our work jurisdiction.
- Healthcare and Container Royalty: Protecting healthcare benefits for members and retirees, along with securing container royalty payments designed to supplement wages, is also on the line. Employers have tried to reduce these benefits or claim a share of container royalty funds, but we are standing firm to keep them fully within union control.
January 15th, 2025 marks the expiration of the Master Contract extension. Likely to play a factor in negotiations in those final days is who is President. President Biden and Vice President Harris both sided with the union and refused to force the union to go back to work for a 90-day cool down period using Taft-Harley. If Donald Trump, who was caught laughing in a X/Twitter livestream about firing striking workers last month, wins the presidency, do you think he will back up the union? Not a damn chance.
Tristin Amezcua-Hogan is the Editor of The Labor Beacon and a member of LIUNA Local 264. Tristin also serves as the Director of Communications for the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO and the Chair of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance.
Tristin grew up as the son of a UA Local 669 member in Tecumseh, KS and the great-nephew of George C. Amis, longtime leader of the United Rubberworkers (now USW Local 307) in Kansas. Growing up in rural Kansas as the child of teen parents, Tristin quickly came to appreciate the life-changing benefit of a union job.
Tristin and his partner, Rebeca Amezcua-Hogan, are residents of the Westside, Kansas City, MO's historic Mexican neighborhood. They are proud members of Kansas City's New Reform Temple.
