Longshoremen begin massive strike across East and Gulf Coasts
New York, NY – At 12:01 am on Tuesday, October 1, around 50,000 longshoremen and dockworkers across the Gulf Coast and the East Coast walked off their jobs. Dockworkers and longshoremen are represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the strike comes after negotiations of terms for a next union contract stalled out over pay and protections against automation.
It is estimated that between 43% and 49% of all U.S. imports enter the U.S through ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast, and those goods and materials have been brought to a standstill by the strike, which is expected to have a massive impact on the U.S. economy and on availability of goods if the strike stretches on for weeks.
In a statement released on the first day of the strike, ILA President Harold Daggett said that the workers are fighting for a $5 an hour increase for each year of the contract over six years. They also want to be able to collect all royalties for containers they have handled, and are proposing language to protect their jobs and industry from automation.
Recent years, since the pandemic, have seen exponential growth in profits for ocean carriers that move goods around the world on large container ships. The huge increases in profits, paired with the failure of port management to offer significant pay increases, combined with the looming threat of automation in the ports led the ILA members to decide to go on strike and shut down the distribution and shipping of goods which the docks, carriers, suppliers and manufacturers depend on them for.
Business and labor analysts have reported that the strike may be costing as much as $5 billion for each day that the strike continues. In addition to the massive amount of goods imported through these ports, the ports also handle exporting. In fact, this strike is delaying nearly two-thirds of exports as well as shutting down goods coming into the country.
The ILA strike follows a significant uptick in strike activity among major industries in the United States. In 2023 workers represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) across the Big Three auto companies went on strike and won major gains as a result. That auto strike came on the tail of a near strike at UPS in which the workers won major gains as well. It is unclear when or how the Longshoremen and Dockworkers will choose to end their strike.