by Lloyd's List

9 September (Lloyd's List) - THE WINDOW to avert a major shutdown of US ports from Maine to Texas next month continues to narrow as feuding dock workers and port employers publicly air out their grievances.

Both the US Maritime Alliance, which represents port employers on the US east and Gulf coast ports, and the International Longshoremen’s Association, which represents dockworkers, released statements on Thursday that reflected, at least in rhetoric, a wide gulf between them.

The ILA’s Wage Scale committee delegates concluded two-day meetings on Thursday with unanimous consent for a strike come October 1, the union said.

“Nearly 300 International Longshoremen’s Association Wage Scale Delegates ended their two-day Wage Scale Meetings today in New Jersey by unanimously supporting International President Harold Daggett’s call for a coastwide strike at ports from Maine to Texas on October 1, 2024, if a new agreement with United States Maritime Alliance is not reached at that time,” the ILA said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the USMX on Thursday said the union appeared to have already decided to strike come October 1.

“USMX remains committed and prepared to resume negotiations with the ILA on a new Master Contract before the current agreement expires and to avoid a strike,” USMX said in a statement.

“The ILA continues to strongly signal it has already made the decision to call a strike and we hope the ILA will reopen dialogue and share its current contract demands so we can work together on a new deal, as we have done successfully for nearly 50 years.”

According to the USMX, its offer includes “industry leading wage increases”, better starting wages, increase to retirement contributions, and retention of the “technology language” in the current agreement, which “already formalises that there will be no fully-automated terminals and no implementation of semi-automated equipment or technology/automation without agreement by both parties to workforce protections and staffing levels.”

The union responded to the statement on Saturday in a letter to its membership, arguing that the USMX’s interpretation of “leading wages” was “polar opposite” to theirs, and that “inflation has completely eaten into any raises and wages”.

“USMX’s corporate greed has made them delusional — profits over people. They have taken advantage of a low entry wage and a tiered progression system for thirty years. We outright reject their position on the new entry wage,” union president Harold Daggett and international vice-president Dennis Daggett, Harold’s son, said in the letter.

The union chiefs also warned members that USMX is “trying to fool” them with their language on workforce protections for semi-automation.

“Let me be clear: we don’t want any form of semi-automation or full automation. USMX members expect us to trust them? We want our jobs — the jobs we have historically done for over 132 years. They don’t even live up to the current contract, and they want us to believe that they will honour workforce protections?”

Dennis Daggett said in a video released Wednesday that the three remaining pressure points were automation, “right of control”, and wages, with the latter being the key one.

Despite the fiery language and rhetoric between the sides, progress was being made on local contracts, with 90% of the South Atlantic contracts reported as resolved by the younger Daggett. However, the parties were at an impasse in Mobile, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Philadelphia at the time the video was released.

Daggett explained in the video that unlike in previous labour agreements, the union decided this time to negotiate the master contract after the local ones.

“I think the mistakes that we made in the past as a union is we spent so much time and energy negotiating the master contract that we negotiated the locals after the fact.”

At that point, he said, the USMX “didn’t have the appetite or the energy” to negotiate with the locals.

“And now the locals are doing a great job in negotiating what they rightfully deserve for the first time in a very, very long time,” he said.

“That’s why I think it seems so contentious, but it’s long overdue for the results that we’re hoping for.”