Article by: Rick Walker, Vice President – TradeInsights, LCB/CCS

Industry sources are telling us that The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) are set to resume talks for a new master contract on Jan. 7th. This doesn’t leave much time for negotiation as the current contract expires on January 15th. The ILA has already warned that they will strike if their demands are not met. After agreeing to a 62% pay raise at the end of last year, the remaining sticking point is the USMX’s desire to implement more port automation to compete with other major ports around the world which are way ahead of us in the use of technology and automation.

The ILA has taken a hardline stance against the use of automation technology at ports under its jurisdiction. It singled out semi-automated rail mounted gantry cranes (RMGs) as a technology that it wants to bar from further implementation at East and Gulf coast ports under the new contract. The USMX responded by saying that semi-automated cranes were desperately needed on the docks, to improve efficiency and make U.S. ports globally competitive. The employers said the resulting increased container volumes would actually help create more union jobs.

Yahoo News reports that “the decision to resume negotiations was unexpected and came together quickly, said one individual close to the negotiations, adding that the sides had been talking informally for some time”. “Let’s hope the parties can actually get a deal. If not, they must do another extension to avoid a strike!” said Jonathan Gold, vice president, supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, in a post on X. There have been no formal negotiations since early November when the ILA broke off talks, saying employers were trying to force automated container handling technology into a new contract in a bid to eliminate union jobs.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the two sides can reach an agreement prior to January 15th.

We will continue to monitor the progress of the negotiations and provide updates when available.

Please contact your V. Alexander account team, or you may also contact our Trade Compliance team at tradeinsights@valexander.com with any questions.