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Dockworkers go on strike at ports on East Coast, including Port of NY and NJ

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3 months ago

October 1, 2024

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Dockworkers go on strike at ports on East Coast, including Port of NY and NJ

2-minute read

Dockworkers at ports from Maine to New Jersey to Texas went on strike Tuesday, for the first time since 1977, in a move that some experts say could disrupt the supply chain and billions of dollars worth of products for weeks or more just before the holiday shopping season kicks off.

The North Jersey-based International Longshoremen’s Association walked off the job, seeking a big increase in pay, as its last contract expired at midnight Tuesday. The workers also oppose automation at the ports, which poses a threat to their jobs.

Striking dockworkers stood at several locations outside the Port of Newark and Port of Elizabeth on Tuesday morning with signs that read “Automation hurts families: ILA stands for job protection.” Occasionally someone would drive by honking and holding up a fist in support.

Story continues below photo gallery.

Union leadership bounced between locations to address the striking workers. A DJ played music at one spot, and strikers availed themselves of several food trucks parked nearby. Doughnuts and pallets of bottled water were also available.

“They’ve made billions and billions of dollars over the last few years through COVID and everything,” Buddy Smith, president of ILA Local 1233, told strikers, referring to the shipping and terminal companies. “We worked. We lost members. We’re just asking the companies to bring us along with them.”

“Automation and going too far with technology, we just can’t afford that,” Smith said. “We’re putting people out of work.”

Jack DaCosta Jr., an ILA strike captain and a general foreman at Columbia Container Services at the port, agreed. “The net revenues of these companies have grown astronomically, from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars, while ILA member wage increases do not cover the cost of inflation,” he said.

He also addressed the issue of automation at the ports and the threat to job security. “You got the self-checkout, right?” he said. “A lot of people lost their jobs because of self-checkout.”

“You don’t want to lose your job to automation,” he said.

DaCosta said the ILA was prepared to strike for “as long as it takes.”

Shaheen Smith, another longshoreman and ILA strike captain, said technology is fine if it helps dockworkers do their jobs more efficiently, but not if it replaces their jobs. “Robots don’t pay taxes,” he said. “Robots don’t do anything for the community. So it’s important for us to keep our jobs because it’s part of the ecosystem.”

ILA President Harold Daggett addressed striking workers early Tuesday, in a video posted on the union’s Facebook account. “What you’re doing is right,” he said, to cheers. “This is going down in history.”

He told them that in 1977, he went on strike “with the old guys for three months for 80 cents … and it wasn’t nice.”

Daggett said the shipping and terminal companies don’t care about the dockworkers, but the strike will make them care. “Nothing is going to move without us,” he said. “Nothing.”

What did Biden say?

President Joe Biden issued a statement urging the United States Maritime Alliance, or USMX, a group of shipping and port terminal companies also based in North Jersey, “to come to the table and present a fair offer to the workers of the International Longshoremen’s Association that ensures they are paid appropriately in line with their invaluable contributions.”

“Ocean carriers have made record profits since the pandemic and in some cases profits grew in excess of 800% compared to their profits prior to the pandemic,” Biden said. “Executive compensation has grown in line with those profits and profits have been returned to shareholders at record rates.

“It’s only fair that workers, who put themselves at risk during the pandemic to keep ports open, see a meaningful increase in their wages as well,” he said.

Biden has said he will not invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to block the strike. Instead, White House officials encouraged ongoing discussions despite pleas for help from retail, agriculture, commerce, auto care, toy and other groups for months.

Strike hits 36 ports

Leaders at the ILA cut off contract talks in June after learning that a form of automation had been introduced at the Port of Mobile in Alabama, an action they said violated the existing contract.

Last week, the USMX filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over the ILA’s adamancy that it would not resume contract negotiations.

USMX issued a statement late Monday saying that over the previous 24 hours, the alliance and the union traded counteroffers related to wages. USMX said it increased its offer and also requested an extension of the current contract, since both sides have moved off their previous positions.

However, early Tuesday, dockworkers were out on strike at 36 ports on the East and Gulf coasts, including the Port of New York and New Jersey, which has key facilities in Newark, Elizabeth and Staten Island.

The dockworkers’ union leaders are seeking significant pay hikes for their members, saying they deserve a fair share of the profits that shipping and port terminal companies have made as cargo volume remains higher after the demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

USMX had said its latest offer would increase wages by nearly 50%, triple employer contributions to employee retirement plans, strengthen health care options, and retain the current contract language around automation and semi-automation.

The strike could cost the economy up to $5 billion a day, upend holiday shopping for millions of Americans and dictate whether many small- and medium-size businesses and farmers turn a profit or lose money this year, experts said.

How does strike affect Port of New York and New Jersey?

At the Port of New York and New Jersey, the strike has caused all activity involving loading and unloading cargo containers and automobiles to stop.

Cruise ships will continue to operate despite the strike.

Fuel, such as home heating oil, and municipal solid waste operations will not be affected.

The import and export of road salt, cement, Belgian block, scrap metal, edible oils and orange juice will continue, officials said.

An estimated 35 ships are expected to enter the port over the next week and would anchor in place, said Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Container ships with imports bound for Newark, Elizabeth and Staten Island would end up mooring at designated sites in New York Harbor or off the coast while the strike lasts, or simply slow down, drift and loiter to ride out the strike in the Atlantic, officials said.

Check back for more on this developing story.

This story contains material from USA Today.