The union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, is to resume working immediately.
Although the increasingly harsh tone reached yesterday suggested that the strike could continue for a long time
But The union representing 45,000 striking U.S. dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports reached a deal Thursday to suspend a three-day strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract.
The union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, is to resume working immediately. The temporary end to the strike came after the union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies, reached a tentative agreement on wages, the union and ports said in a joint statement.
The Ila (International Longshoremen’s Association) and the Usmx (United States Maritime Alliance) explained that they have “reached a provisional agreement on wages”, when they will return to the negotiating table to discuss all the remaining open questions, including that relating to automation.
The acronym, they added, leads to the end of the protest “with immediate effect” and the resumption of all activities covered by the same contract
The communication does not explain what the contents of the agreement reached by the dockworkers are, but according to rumors reported by the Associated Press,
This would provide for a 62% increase in wages over six years (compared to the 50% increase initially proposed by the employers and of the workers’ request for a 77% increase). According to Reuters, this increase would mean a shift from an average hourly wage of $39 to $63.
The end of the protests was welcomed by outgoing US President Joe Biden The Ila and his deputy, as well as presidential candidate, Kamala Harris. In a statement, the former described the signing of the provisional agreement as progress towards a “solid contract” and thanked unions, terminals and carriers for acting “patriotically” to “reopen our ports” and ” ensure the availability of supplies” following the passage of Hurricane Helene.
In a separate note, Harris thanked the parties involved in the negotiation, underlining in particular “the power of collective bargaining” and reiterated that the issue revolved around the theme of “fairness”.
Whereas Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told them she could get the union to the bargaining table to extend the contract if the carriers made a higher wage offer. Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told the carriers they had to make an offer by the end of the day so a manmade strike wouldn’t worsen a natural disaster, the person said.
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