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Vowing to stop machines from taking their jobs, 45,000 U.S. longshoremen are threatening to go on a strike that would shut down ports on the East and Gulf coasts and could damage the American economy just as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
If the standoff sounds familiar, it’s because the same dockworkers—members of the International Longshoremen’s Association—staged a three-day walkout last fall. In October, they suspended the strike until Jan. 15 after reaching a tentative agreement with ports and shipping companies for a 62% pay raise over six years. But union members must approve a final contract before receiving the higher wages.
That’s where things get complicated.
Negotiations resume Tuesday between the ILA and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shippers. The sticking point is a familiar one at America’s ports: machines replacing human labor, specifically semi-automated cranes operated by software or employees working remotely to guide containers onto trucks or trains. Conventional cranes have a human at the controls.
The union and its president, Harold Daggett, are dead set against allowing additional automation at East and Gulf coast ports. They argue that the machines aren’t any more efficient than human labor.
Facing the Jan. 15 strike deadline, the two sides will have barely a week to reach an agreement. “They’re not giving themselves a whole lot of time,’’ says Jonathan Gold, a vice president at the National Retail Federation who handles issues involving supply chains and trade.
