Port Strike Averted With Labor Deal Days Before Deadline
Dockworkers and employers on the East and Gulf Coasts had until Jan. 15 to reach a new agreement that settled differences over automation.
Dockworkers on the East and Gulf Coasts reached a tentative labor agreement with employers on Wednesday, averting a strike that could have hammered the economy days before President-elect Donald J. Trump took office.
The International Longshoremen’s Association, the dockworkers’ union, and the United States Maritime Alliance, the employers’ negotiating group, overcame their differences over a big sticking point in their talks: the introduction of automated cargo-moving machinery at the ports.
“This agreement protects current I.L.A. jobs and establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while modernizing East and Gulf Coasts ports,” the two sides said in a joint statement Wednesday evening.
After members of the International Longshoremen’s Association went on a short strike in October, the maritime alliance agreed to raise wages more than 60 percent over six years, provided that other parts of the labor agreement — including provisions on automation — were resolved by Jan. 15.
The agreement is tentative because the union has not yet held a ratification vote and members of the maritime alliance also have to sign off on it. Members of other unions have in recent months rejected labor accords agreed to by their leaders.
The International Longshoremen’s Association has resisted the introduction of automated machinery at the ports, contending that it reduces jobs, a position that gained Mr. Trump’s support.