New York, NY – On Thursday, October 3, around 45,000 dockworkers and longshoremen who are represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) reached a tentative agreement – around wages – with their employers on the East and Gulf Coast ports.

The tentative agreement only pertains to wages and not to other language that the union members have been fighting for, like language to protect their jobs from automation. Because the agreement is only partial, the union suspended the strike effective immediately but set a date of January 15 to resume the strike if no agreement is reached to finalize the contract by then.

The ports management had previously offered around 50% in wage increases over a six-year contract. This 50% offer comes after years of wages that did not keep up with rising profits by the port owners, which grew exponentially during and since the pandemic. After three days facing a strike – which was estimated to cost as much as $5 billion for every day it continued – ports management came back to the table with a new offer which is reported to include 62% in increases over the six year period.

The strike was also due to concerns over automation coming to the 36 ports at which ILA represents from the Gulf Coast and along the East Coast up to Maine. The ILA is fighting for language to protect the workers’ jobs form being replaced through automation. That fight continues even as the union suspends its strike and tentatively agrees to a framework for wages.

While a tentative wage agreement has been reached, the union did not end its strike, it simply suspended it until January 15 to give the union members and the ports time to negotiate over the remaining issues on the table. Strike activity could resume as early as January 15 if a full deal is not reached by then. Any deal that is reached will need to be voted on by the ILA members as part of a full contract deal.

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