American longshoremen will return to work after three days of strike, the union and employers announced Thursday in a joint statement, while the blockade of ports in the United States threatened to cause shortages and price increases one month before the election.
The Longshore Union (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents their employers, “reached a tentative agreement on wages and agreed to extend the master contract until January 15, 2025 in order to return to the negotiating table to negotiate all other outstanding issues,” according to a joint statement.
Thus, “from now on, all actions in progress will cease and all positions covered by the framework contract will resume”, it is specified.
The two parties will therefore have to meet again to discuss by January.
The press release does not provide details on the terms of the salary agreement. But, according to the Wall Street Journal which cites people familiar with the matter, employers proposed a 62% wage increase over six years, which made this agreement possible.
US President Joe Biden welcomed this agreement which will “reopen ports on the East Coast and the Gulf”, and which “represents crucial progress towards a solid contract”.
“I want to thank the union workers, carriers and port operators who are acting with patriotism to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of critical supplies for hurricane recovery and rebuilding Helene “, he added.
Joe Biden refused to intervene, and the White House spokesperson judged that “it is time for the USMX to negotiate a fair agreement with the longshoremen that reflects their important contribution to our economic recovery”.
Former President Donald Trump, who is seeking a new term, estimated in Milwaukee that Joe Biden “should have worked on an agreement between them” and noted that the longshoremen represented “the living force” of the country.
Reopen blocked ports
Some 45,000 members of the longshoremen’s union (ILA) have been on strike since Tuesday in 36 ports of the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, for lack of agreement on a new social agreement six years old.
This agreement actually only concerns 25,000 union members working in the container and vehicle import/export terminals of 14 major ports (including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Savannah, Miami, Tampa, Houston).
Transport Minister Pete Buttigieg urged the two parties on Wednesday to reach an agreement and reopen the blocked ports in the United States, saying their positions were “not that far apart economically”, and stressing that there was much to do after the devastating passage of the hurricane Helene in the south of the country.
He also reported that maritime carriers saw their results jump by around 350% in ten years while the salaries of longshoremen increased by only 15% over the same period.
Discussions, which began in May, were suspended for several weeks then reactivated a few hours before the previous contract expired Monday evening.
The Alliance had raised its offer, proposing in particular a salary increase of 50% over the duration of the agreement, but which had been rejected by the union. He initially demanded 77%, according to American media, and notably calls for more protections against job losses linked to automation.