Under pressure from the Biden Administration, Longshoremen’s Union accepted a tentative offer to end the strike, but contract details are not settled.
Strike Over for Now But Details Remain
The Wall Street Journal reports U.S. Port Workers Agree to End Their Strike
U.S. dockworkers agreed to return to work after port operators sweetened their contract offer, ending a three-day strike that threatened to disrupt the American economy.
The breakthrough Thursday came after port employers offered a 62% increase in wages over six years, according to people familiar with the matter.
The agreement ends a strike that had closed container ports from Maine to Texas and threatened to disrupt everything from the supply of bananas in supermarkets to the flow of cars through America’s factories.
The new offer, up from an earlier proposed raise of 50%, came after the White House privately and publicly pressed the large shipping lines and cargo terminal operators who employ the longshore workers to make a new offer to the union.
The International Longshoremen’s Association and port operators, in a joint statement, said they had reached a tentative agreement on wages and union members would return to work. They said the agreement would extend the prior contract, which expired at the start of this week, through Jan. 15, 2025 while the two sides negotiate on other issues, including automation on the docks.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the union’s demand for no more automation.
US ports are among the least automated global ports. It’s ridiculous.