Ports Strike Ends as Union, Operators Reach Tentative Deal

U.S. ports will resume fully staffed Friday, with dockworkers and employers ending a stalemate Thursday evening that had closed shipping gateways from Maine to Texas for three days.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) union and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) released a brief joint statement saying they had reached a deal on wages and agreed to extend their master contract until Jan. 15, 2025.

The statement said all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the contract will resume, and both sides will return to the bargaining table to negotiate other outstanding issues.

The deal likely averts any noticeable consumer-level impact on the price of goods and delivery timelines. The standoff had threatened the U.S. supply of perishable products, automobiles and other goods.

The strike — which had impacted or shuttered operations at 36 different U.S. ports — was the first by the ILA since 1977. It had encompassed 50,000 of the union’s 85,000 members.

National news outlets cited sources familiar with the matter detailing that the deal involves ILU wages increasing 61.5% over 6 years from base hourly pay of $39 to $63. That’s far less than the 77% raise the union voiced it sought, but much better than the 50% hike the USMX had previously offered.

Alongside wages, the other key sticking point for the union was stern opposition to the automation of dockwork.

The Wall Street Journal cited a source familiar with the matter saying the agreed offer was made on the condition that dockworkers resumed work effective immediately and agree to efficiency gains.

MDM’s Take

While the agreement seems to have averted what could have been an economically crippling standoff, it could result in a cascading effect of cost increases to be passed along. The higher wages agreed to will be first levied against cargo owners and maritime shipping lines that manage port terminals, and those operators are likely to offload at least some of those higher costs to clients that include major retailers, manufacturers, distributors and farmers that import and export goods through the nation’s ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast.