New York, October 4, 2024 (AFP) – Thousands of dockworkers returned to work on Friday morning in the United States, the day after the agreement in principle between their union and their employers after only three days of strike, thus lifting a threat to the American economy one month before the presidential election.
At the port of Mobile, in Alabama (south), on the Gulf of Mexico, operations at the APM container terminal resumed at 7:00 a.m. (11:00 GMT), the operator said on its website.
On the East Coast, in Norfolk, the port of Virginia will wait until Saturday to reopen all its terminals, with wider opening hours than usual on Saturday and Sunday “in order to allow operations to resume,” he said.
“We ask our road transport partners to be patient during the process,” he continued.
In the gigantic port of New York-New Jersey – through which 20% of containers arriving in the United States pass each year, behind the 40% of the Los Angeles-Long Beach duo in California – the Port Liberty Bayonne terminal has not planned to resume its activities until Monday morning.
This reopening of ports located on the coast between Maine (northeast) and Texas (south), going around Florida (southeast), is possible thanks to the agreement reached by the dockers’ union ( ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents their employers.
The two parties announced it in a joint press release Thursday evening: “From now on, all ongoing actions will cease and all positions covered by the framework contract will resume.”
It was the ILA’s first strike since 1977. It lasted 44 days at the time.
Negotiations on the new six-year social agreement, which began in May, remained at a standstill for several weeks. They resumed a few hours before the expiration of the previous agreement on Monday at 11:59 p.m., without ending in time to avoid a walkout.
-Wages-
The work stoppage began immediately, Tuesday at 12:01 a.m., affecting the thirty-six ports managed by the USMX and their 45,000 ILA members.
But the social agreement actually only concerns 25,000 dockworkers working in the container and vehicle import/export terminals of fourteen major ports (including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Savannah, Miami, Tampa, Houston).
Discussions stalled on wages and automation.
According to the press release from Thursday evening, the two parties have “reached an agreement in principle on salaries”, without further details.
According to the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, the employers proposed a 62% wage increase over six years, which was accepted by the union.
The ILA, which originally demanded an increase of 77% according to American media, refused Monday morning a 50% increase.
The social agreement which expired on September 30 was extended until January 15, to finalize the other outstanding points.
US President Joe Biden welcomed this agreement, which will “reopen ports on the East Coast and Gulf”, and “represents crucial progress towards a solid contract”.
The stakes were high for him because this strike risked causing shortages of fresh products in the short term and having an impact on industrial supplies and inflation if it lasted beyond two to three weeks.
This just before the hotly contested November 5 presidential election, with the cost of living at the forefront of Americans’ concerns.
Mr. Biden, who claims to be the “most union-friendly president,” refused to activate the Taft-Hartley Act – used repeatedly for ILA strikes before 1977 – allowing the imposition of a moratorium of 80 days.
“The port strike ended relatively quickly, removing any significant downside risks to the economy during the quarter,” commented Oxford Economics.
“It will take a little time to evacuate the excess accumulated during the strike but any loss of activity (…) will be made up for over the rest of the quarter, therefore no change in our GDP forecast (gross domestic product, editor’s note) in the fourth trimester is not necessary,” continued the organization.
Before the walkout, he estimated that each week of strike would reduce American GDP by $4.5 billion to $7.5 billion.
The 36 ports handle around half of the United States’ containerized imports and exports. Or 6% of the total annual volume worldwide, according to the Boston Consulting Group.
And, on average, more than $2.1 billion in business value per day, according to multiple sources.
