US East Coast contract negotiations – Update

Attention: Shipping Manager

 

STOP PRESS

With the Canadian strike situation continuing and the strong possibility of a US East coast strike in January, Dieterle & Victory strongly recommend, that where possible, all clients should bring orders forward so as to avoid US East Coast January 2025 shipments.

In addition, with the USA West coast ports becoming the only option, for both Canadian Strikes and the East Coast potential strike, we anticipate that this coast will rapidly become congested in the lead up to January and beyond.

Accordingly, we again recommend,  that any purchase orders that transit this coast, should be, where possible, brought forward. If you have any concerns, please feel free to contact your customer service representative.

 

US EAST COAST UPDATE

Further to our previous broadcast regarding the US East Coast employers and union contract negotiations, we have received notice that The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) has broken off contract negotiations with East and Gulf Coast port employers. The ILA is accusing the employers of pushing automation technology into a new coastwise labor pact that would eliminate union jobs. The ILA and employers represented by the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) this week resumed bargaining on a new six-year master contract covering 45,000 union workers involved in container handling at dozens of East and Gulf Coast ports.

In a statement posted to social media and then taken down, the ILA said that in meetings in New Jersey, “USMX introduced language in their proposal for semi-automated equipment to be used at ILA ports, which this union outright rejected. The ILA recognized this as a renewed attempt by USMX to eliminate ILA jobs with automation and broke off talks.”

The ILA has been adamant that it will not permit automation technology as part of a new coastwise contract, that was agreed upon after a three-day strike in early October. The strike ended when Biden administration officials got the sides to agree to extend the current contract through Jan. 15 while negotiations resumed.

“The ILA’s resolve remains strong not to surrender any ILA jobs,” the union said. “We are disappointed that USMX would attempt to disregard our ILA’s well-known position opposing job-cutting automation and semi-automation.”

At the time the strike ended, the union and employers agreed on a 62% pay hike over the life of the new contract.

The USMX has said in a release that “While we had positive progress on a number of issues, we were unable to make significant progress on our discussions that focused on a range of technology issues”. The USMX has been clear that they are not seeking technology that would eliminate jobs, but have expressed the need for continued modernization that is essential to improve worker safety and increase efficiency, ultimately keeping supply chains strong.

The USMX has stated that they look forward to resuming negotiations with the ILA.

We will advise any further updates once they become available.

 

(Source: Freightwaves)

 

Regards,