Ports all along the East Coast hit as International Longshoremen’s Association strikes for first time since 1977.
Dockers from the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) are on strike as of midnight today (Tuesday), shutting down ports all along the US East Coast as they seek a fair deal from on pay and automation from the employer association, United States Maritime Alliance (USMX).
The dockers’ action, which is the first ILA strike since 1977, is hitting 36 ports along the length of the East Coast and will cause significant disruption – with major economic impacts predicted if the strike lasts longer than a week.
“USMX brought on this strike when they decided to hold firm to foreign-owned Ocean Carriers earning billion-dollar profits at United States ports, but not compensate the ILA longshore workers who perform the labour that brings them their wealth,” said ILA President Harold Daggett.
“We are prepared to fight as long as necessary, to stay out on strike for whatever period of time it takes, to get the wages and protections against automation our ILA members deserve.”
The ILA action is targeted at securing a fair deal for its members on pay and conditions, alongside commitments on automation, for the duration of a new, six-year deal.
On Monday night, USMX made a last-minute offer to the 85,000-member ILA. The offer of a 50% pay rise over the six years was rejected by the ILA which said it falls “far short of the demands of its members to ratify a new contract”.
Paddy Crumlin, ITF President and Dockers’ Section Chair, said: “The ILA’s fight is our fight.
“The same companies that make up the employer association USMX are named as members of bogus industry associations across the globe, including in Australia where they pass themselves off as ‘Shipping Australia Limited’.
“Just as we have seen off the attacks by SAL on Australian maritime workers, the ILA will see this mob off too and continue to deliver fulfilling, rewarding and safe jobs for American dockworkers for generations to come.”
As the strike action began at 00:01, workers in Philadelphia chanted, “No work without a fair contract”, as they joined picket lines. Dockers taking action wore t-shirts and held banners with messages including “Automation Hurts Our Future” and “Machines Don’t Feed Families” – the latter taking inspiration from Harold Daggett saying of the workers: “Who’s going to support their families – machines? Machines don’t have families.”
In June this year, the ILA stopped ongoing talks with USMX after it discovered that APM Terminals and Maersk Line were using an ‘auto gate system’ to process trucks without ILA workers. The ILA also pointed out that for two contract periods it has been waiting for the results of an audit on jobs created from new technology.
The ILA’s fears build on the experiences of dockers’ unions around the world in seeing automation and digitalisation being framed as ‘progress’ but leading to dockers’ jobs and safety being put at risk.
“Our commitment to the ILA is absolute – and that will never change,” said ITF General Secretary, Stephen Cotton. “Dockers worldwide face the same struggle: they want to be paid well for their hard work, they want to be safe at work, and they want to go home at the end of their shifts to the people who love them and know that there’s a secure job for them and the next generation doing this vital waterfront work.
“That is what the ILA is fighting for, and the ITF and its affiliated dockers’ unions all around the world back them in that fight the whole way.”
Shipping industry and finance analysts have been quick to place blame for any economic disruption on union action – with estimates that the strike will cost the US economy USD$5 billion a day.
However, the ILA is simply calling for a new pay award to be in line with USMX revenues: ILA research shows that USMX companies, which includes major shipping companies, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), Maersk, Cosco Shipping, Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM, Evergreen and Zim, record annual profits in the billions of dollars.
The US Chamber of Commerce is calling on the Biden administration to enact the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, which would enable the suspension of the strike for an 80-day “cooling off period” due to risks to “national health or safety”.
The Biden administration has repeatedly ruled out this measure, with Biden himself saying: “I don’t believe in Taft-Hartley.”
“USMX owns this strike now,” said Daggett. “They must now meet our demands for this strike to end.”
ITF Dockers Section Coordinator, Enrico Tortolano, said: “As ILA President Harold Daggett says, ‘USMX owns this strike now’ – so let’s remember that before we hear the inevitable hypocrisy from industry that will put the blame on the ILA.
“The USMX can settle this right now. And if it doesn’t, any economic fallout from this strike is on the USMX.”
