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10/4/2024
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMS) yesterday reached a tentative agreement on wages and have agreed to extend the master contract until Jan. 15, 2025, to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues, the two sides announced last night in a joint press release.
Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the master contract will resume, they said in a press release. Ports along the East and Gulf coasts have been dealing with a work stoppage since Oct. 1, when the current contract expired at midnight and tens of thousands of dockworkers walked off the job.
President Biden hailed the tentative agreement, saying that collective bargaining works and is critical to building the economy.
"Today’s tentative agreement on a record wage and an extension of the collective bargaining process represents critical progress towards a strong contract. I congratulate the dockworkers from the ILA, who deserve a strong contract after sacrificing so much to keep our ports open during the pandemic," Biden said in a statement released by the White House. "And I applaud the port operators and carriers who are members of the US Maritime Alliance for working hard and putting a strong offer on the table."
Biden also praised port workers, operators and carriers " for acting patriotically to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of critical supplies for Hurricane Helene recovery and rebuilding."
The announcement brought relief to ports, shippers, railroads and others impacted by the three-day work stoppage. Ports began preparations last night to begin to reopen today.
At the Port of New York and New Jersey, terminal operators had mechanics on site this morning to bring the terminal back to an operational status; vessel activity is expected to resume tonight, with information on truck gates to follow, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officials said in a prepared statement.
“The decision to end the current strike and allow the East and Gulf coast ports to reopen is good news for the nation’s economy," said National Retail Federation (NRF) President and CEO Matthew Shay in a press release.
On Wednesday, the NRF led a coalition of nearly 300 industry trade associations in sending a letter to President Biden calling on him to use “any and all authority” to end the strike.