by Lloyd's List
13 November 2024 (Lloyd's List) - UNSURPRISINGLY, negotiations between the International Longshoremen's Association and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) have stalled over the key sticking issue of automation.
The sides met on Monday for what was supposed to be four days of negotiations, but the ILA broke off talks on Tuesday, arguing that the USMX "continued pushing automation and semi-automation language" in their contract proposal.
"As they gathered in Teaneck, New Jersey this week with their respective bargaining committees, USMX introduced language in their proposal for semi-automated equipment to be used at ILA ports, which the union outright rejected," the union said in a statement posted on its Facebook page Wednesday.
"The ILA recognised this as a renewed attempt by USMX to eliminate ILA jobs with automation and broke off talks."
The union, which represents dockworkers in US east and Gulf coast ports, went on strike on October 1 for the first time since the 1970s, shutting down box operations in ports from Maine to Texas.
The strike only lasted three days before political pressure pushed the parties to tentatively agree to a lofty 61.5% pay hike, and to extend the current contract until January 15, giving them three more months to hammer out a deal.
However, the tentative agreement "was driven more by political intervention than it was by a traditional collective-bargaining process", Mediterranean Shipping Company executive vice-president for maritime policy Bud Darr said during an event in New York in October.
The administration was pressuring for an agreement to avoid or limit an economic disruption just weeks before the US presidential election.
With the election over, there likely won't be the same political pressure on the ILA and USMX to reach a deal before the January 15 deadline, which is just five days before Donald Trump will begin his second term.
The shaping of Trump's cabinet might also be affecting the parties' approach to the talks. While some positions have been announced, it is still unknown who the president-elect will pick for secretary of labour and other positions that could influence the resolution to the USMX-ILA dispute.
Shippers already pulling cargo forward
Fears of a renewed strike are already leading importers to pull cargo forward, much like they did ahead of the October deadline.
"Retailers [are] spending extra to bring in cargo early or continue shifting it to the west coast to avoid any potential disruptions, much like they did earlier this year," said National Retail Federation vice-president for supply chain and customs policy Jonathan Gold when announcing the latest Global Port Tracker report, produced by the NRF and Hackett Associates.
Preparations for a strike "can be seen in the continuing increases in US imports from Asia, which have not fallen away as expected", said Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett.
Another factor influencing shippers to pull forward cargo is fear of tariffs, given Trump's stated intentions to hike these dramatically.
