(Bloomberg) -- The dockworker union that brought half of US container trade to a halt last October has voted to ratify a new labor contract with their port and ocean carrier employers.
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Nearly 99% of workers backed the contract, International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett said in a statement. “We now have labor peace for the next six years.”
The ILA-USMX accord is good news for the importers, retailers and consumers on edge from the uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration’s trade policies and tariffs.
“Retailers welcome this resolution to the supply chain uncertainty that has lingered along the East & Gulf Coast for some time,” said Jess Dankert, supply chain vice president at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, whose members include Best Buy, Target and Home Depot.
The ILA walked out of every major container port from Houston to Boston when their previous contract with US Maritime Alliance, representing port operators, terminal operators and ocean carriers, expired on Oct. 1. Under intense pressure from the Biden administration, the ILA agreed to suspend the strike for three months in exchange for a 62% raise over the next six-year contract.
Though the strike lasted three days, the closure halted the flow of about half of the country’s containerized trade, causing dozens of ships to back up and a supply chain seizure that took weeks to fully unwind.
But the temporary deal left the issue of technology on the table and the union declared an impasse in November over the employer group’s use of semi-automated cargo handling equipment and other technology.
With a little over a month to go before the new deadline — and his inauguration — Donald Trump pledged his support for the dockworkers after a meeting with Daggett and his son and second-in-command, Dennis.
“I’ve studied automation, and know just about everything there is to know about it. The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers,” Trump said in a Dec. 12 social media post.
The ILA and USMX announced a tentative deal a week before the Jan. 15 deadline.
In a video to union members, Daggett said the new contract was worth about $35 billion — nearly twice the value of the previous agreement. He also touted royalty funds, enhancements to the union’s health care plan and other benefits.