Thousands of longshoremen returned to work on Friday, a day after a longshoremen’s union reached a tentative deal with shippers, ending a three-day strike weeks before the U.S. presidential election.
At the port of Mobile in the southern state of Alabama on the Gulf Coast, terminal company APM resumed operations at 7 a.m. local time (12:00 GMT), the company announced online.
Virginia’s Port of Norfolk on the East Coast said it would reopen Saturday, planning “extended weekend gate hours” for terminal operators.
“We ask our partners to be patient,” the port said.
At the giant Port of New York and New Jersey, the second-largest container port in the United States after Los Angeles and Long Beach, the Port Liberty terminal in Bayonne plans to reopen Monday morning.
The phased reopening covers US ports from Maine to Texas following Thursday night’s preliminary agreement between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Shipping Alliance (USMX). The workers had left on Tuesday morning when their contract expired.
US dock workers to return to work after a tentative deal
The parties “reached a tentative agreement on wages and agreed to extend the main contract until January 15, 2025,” according to a joint statement.
“Effective immediately, all current work actions will cease and all work covered by the Main Contract will resume.”
The strike was the first to affect these ports since 1977.
Talks between the two sides have been dormant for months. But negotiations resumed on Monday as the contract deadline approached.
In recent days, Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Sue and other Biden administration officials have urged the parties to iron out the differences and called on USMX to strengthen its offer.
Salary increases
The outage affected approximately 45,000 workers at 36 facilities.
The contract covered only 14 major ports, including New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, Savannah, Miami and Houston. However, additional workers at ILA-represented facilities in the region participated in the walkout.
Biden official urges talks as US port strike enters second day
The talks focused on wages and the ILA’s efforts to prevent job losses due to automation. ILA leaders have argued that a big pay rise is deserved after dockers have kept the economy running during the pandemic, boosting shippers’ profits.
The temporary agreement covers wages and extends the contract until January 15, 2025.
“The two sides agreed to return to the negotiating table to negotiate all other outstanding issues,” the joint statement said.
He did not offer terms of the deal, but the Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to the matter, reported that USMX had proposed a 62 percent wage increase over six years, allowing the deal to be reached.
US President Joe Biden had been pressured to intervene in negotiations to keep the ports open, but had declined, citing respect for collective bargaining rights. He praised both sides for resolving the issue, citing the need “to ensure the availability of critical supplies for Hurricane Helene recovery and reconstruction,” a White House statement said.
US dock workers begin mass strike a month before election
Outside the White House late Thursday, Biden said, “They’ve got the next 90 days, they’re going to sort everything out.”
Analysts had warned that, with the Nov. 5 presidential election looming, a prolonged strike could have created a significant headwind for the U.S. economy, leading to shortages of certain items and rising costs at a time when inflation is easing.
Shipping companies forced to reroute their ships had planned to charge additional fees for each container: $1,000 each for German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd and $800 to $1,500 for France’s CMA CGM, according to German logistics platform Container xChange.
Oxford Economics said it did not plan to update its economic forecasts in light of the quick resolution of the strike.
“The port strike ended fairly quickly, removing any significant downside risk to the economy this quarter,” the Oxford note said.
“It will take some time to deal with any delays that developed during the strike, but any production loss that occurred during the strike will be covered by the rest of this quarter, so no change to our Q4 GDP forecast is needed . “
Source: AFP