The union threatens a strike on September 30. If that happens, it could change the election.
Election Wild Card
The Wall Street Journal comments On the Waterfront, an Election Wild Card
Dockworkers say they’ll strike on Sept. 30 if no new contract is in place, potentially halting activity at ports from Maine to Texas that collectively handle more than 60% of total U.S. container volume. The International Longshoremen’s Association suspended negotiations in June over a technical dispute, and no new talks have been scheduled.
The ILA expressed dissatisfaction after Mr. Biden dispatched acting Labor Secretary Julie Su last year to force a settlement in negotiations involving the ILA’s West Coast counterpart, ending months of disruption at Los Angeles, Long Beach and other ports. The union secured a 32% wage increase over six years.
ILA leaders seem to believe a much higher wage increase is within reach after container lines earned historic profits totalling over $400 billion during the pandemic, according to analyst John McCown. That was more in nominal terms than all the profit the industry earned up to that point, going back to the first container ship launched by Malcom McLean in the 1950s, according to Sea Intelligence.
If a strike were to occur, the Biden administration wouldn’t have the option of forcing longshoremen back to work, despite the president’s legal ability to do so under the Taft-Hartley Act. For Mr. Biden, a lifelong union supporter who claims to be the only president to walk a picket line, reopening the ports forcefully (as President George W. Bush did in 2002) would look like a betrayal of organized labor, a constituency the Democrats will need in November.
The administration’s only option may be to bludgeon the ocean carriers, most of which are foreign-based, into accepting an unfavorable settlement. In prior negotiations, the carriers frequently capitulated to labor’s demands in the interest of keeping ships and cargo moving.
Help Not Wanted
The ILA said it isn’t interested “in any help from outside agencies to interfere in our negotiations. . . . This includes the Biden Administration and the Department of Labor.”
This reminds me of a time when as a kid I was feeding bread to a goose. When I was out of bread, the goose ran up and bit me.
A Political Photo Op
The ILA withheld its endorsement of Mr. Biden—and now Kamala Harris. In 2020, the union waited until March to endorse Mr. Biden. The ILA’s chief negotiator, Harold Daggett, posted a recent photo of his meeting with Donald Trump.
Will Trump march with the picketers?
Here We Go Again
On June 10, CNBC reported Biggest U.S. Ports Union Suspends Labor Talks
The International Longshoremen’s Association, which represents union workers at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, said Monday that it has suspended talks scheduled for this week with the United States Maritime Alliance as part of ongoing negotiations over a new labor contract.
The ILA said in a release that it canceled the talks with ports management to discuss a new labor deal after discovering that automated technology was being used by APM Terminals and Maersk, the world’s second-largest shipping company and APM Terminals’ parent company, to process trucks at port terminals without union labor. The union says an “auto gate” system was initially identified at the Port of Mobile, Alabama, but the union indicated that it believes the technology is in use at other ports.
“Here we go again! This is another example of USMX members unilaterally circumventing our coast-wide Master Contract. This is a clear violation of our agreement with USMX, and we will not tolerate it any longer,” the union said in its release. “There’s no point trying to negotiate a new agreement with USMX when one of its major companies continues to violate our current agreement with the sole aim of eliminating ILA jobs through automation,” stated ILA president Harold J. Daggett.
The ILA indicated in its release that it will not meet with USMX until the “auto gate” issue is resolved.
Union Seeks Wage Hikes ‘Commensurate’ With USMX Revenues
The Sourcing Journal reported on June 12, East Coast Port Union Wants Wage Hikes ‘Commensurate’ With USMX Revenues
According to the ILA, the “enormous” profits and sales raked in by the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) has the union demanding wage hikes “commensurate with these revenues.”
The union, which walked away from master contract negotiations for 45,000 dockworkers across 36 ports from Maine to Texas on Monday, has insisted that the members will go on strike if a new deal is not in place by its Sept. 30 expiration date.
“The threat of a coast-wide strike on Oct. 1, 2024, is becoming more likely as USMX and its member companies continue to drag their feet,” said ILA president Harold J. Daggett, in a statement.
In the latest snag in ILA’s contract dispute with the USMX, the union is largely upset with the deployment of an automation project by Maersk in Alabama’s Port of Mobile, as well as an increasing number of non-union IT personnel based in an inland port in Charlotte, N.C.
“Companies like Maersk are repeatedly trying to eliminate ILA jobs with the introduction of automation while raking in billions of dollars,” Daggett said. “They are in for a rude awakening. This is our time, and the ILA will demand our ILA longshore workers get big boosts in their wages.”
And this February, the ILA won litigation that will effectively force the Port of Charleston to employ more unionized dockworkers at a new container-handling terminal.
No Automation Demand
Look at the lead image. Are we to go back to unloading all goods by hand?
Should we not allow cranes when we build homes and apartment?
In Support of Automation
I cheer automation because it lowers the price of goods for everyone.
And it does so at the expense of very few. Restrictions against automation unfairly raise prices.
A similar thing is happening with EVs because EVs have fewer parts and are easier to assemble.
Ironically, it is repetitive strikes and threats of them that eventually forces automation.
I favor a Reagan-style solution. Fire them all as he did with PATCO. This would be harder because these are not public workers.
Expect More Inflation
The threat of a strike has been ongoing since June. The Journal reported there have been no talks since then.
Eventually, this strike will be settled. Expect more inflation when it settles.
Public Unions Have No Business Existing: Even FDR Admitted That
On June 30, 2018, I commented Public Unions Have No Business Existing: Even FDR Admitted That
FDR: All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations.
The ILA is a private union, not a public one. However, a strike of this nature could cripple the US if it lasted long enough.
Whether this is settled before or after a strike, expect more inflation from it. And if there is a strike that lasts more than a few days, it would quickly cripple the economy.