Dock workers in the Eastern and Gulf Coast voted in favor of the new contract on Tuesday, ending a turbulent workforce at ports that handle most of U.S. trade with other parts of the world.
Dockworkers Union, an international association of Longshoremen, has nearly 99% of its members support contracts, raising 62% over six years, and employers adopt technology that allows them to move cargo autonomously. He said he guaranteed.
The contract was achieved after a brief strike in October, the first full-scale strike since 1977, and the intervention of two US presidents.
Biden administration officials have promoted the US Maritime Alliance, a group representing employers, increased wage offers, ended strikes and brought I.LA. Return to the negotiation table. After the election victory, Donald J. Trump said he supported the union and supported the fight against automation.
“This is an incredible contract package,” ILA president Harold J. Duggett said in a statement.
Dockworkers have significant leverage in contract talks as they can shut down ports and throw the supply chain into chaos. However, labor experts said Daggett strengthened the union's cause by calling a strike and establishing strong ties with Trump.
“The only way they got a deal like this is to show that they have economic strength and that, after all, it's impressive, after all. “We did,” said William Brucher, an assistant professor at Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations.
All 41 members of the Maritime Alliance, a group that includes port operators and transport lines, voted for the contract. It covers approximately 25,000 long shoremen traveling through containers on the East and Gulf Coast.
Under contact, hourly wages will rise to $63 in 2029 from the current $39. This is comparable to the wages of West Coast dock workers, represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, where wages rise to nearly $61 in 2027.
Overtime and higher fees for nighttime work allow Long Shoremen to get well over $200,000 a year.
The ILA has long opposed the introduction of automated cranes and other machines.
Like the old contract, the new One prohibits employers from deploying machines that can always operate without anyone dictating the move. The West Coast Longshoreman union has allowed such technologies (such as unmanned container movement vehicles) at ports for years.
However, the new ILA contract does not prevent employers from adding cranes that can perform tasks such as stacking containers without human orientation. The new agreement also makes it easier for employers to introduce such cranes.
Still, the union ensured that management would allocate at least one worker for each additional crane. (Currently, one union member may remotely oversee and operate multiple cranes at once.)
