The strike at East Coast and Gulf ports ended Thursday, and cargo operations are expected to resume at several ports.
The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance announced the news in a joint statement Thursday night.
According to the statement, the two sides have agreed to a tentative agreement on wages and to extend their master contract until January 15, 2025. The two sides also agreed to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues.
The agreements ended a three-day strike that began Tuesday and shut down operations at several East Coast and Gulf ports, after negotiations stalled over automation and wage issues.
The two sides had tried to avoid a strike by negotiating counter-offers in the hours before the outage. But the union rejected USMX’s offer at the time, saying it “fell well below what ILA rank-and-file members are demanding in wages and protections against automation.”
As the strike progressed, the Biden-Harris administration pressured USMX to offer a contract that reflected longshoremen’s contributions, while making clear that the government would not step in to stop the strike.
With an interim wage deal in place, cargo operations can now resume at union-operated ports. “Effective immediately, all current labor actions will cease and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume,” the ILA and USMX said in a joint statement.
Some ports have already announced plans to reopen by Friday.
Port Houston will reopen at 1:00pm CT and offer extended gate hours on Saturday. The Georgia Ports Authority will open truck gates at 6:00 a.m. ET at its Garden City terminal and at 8:00 a.m. ET at its Ocean terminal. Meanwhile, North Carolina Ports said normal operations will resume at 8 a.m. ET.
In recent remarks, President Joe Biden, Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg applauded both sides for reaching a tentative deal.
“As President Biden, Vice President Harris and this administration have said time and time again, collective bargaining is working,” Su said in a statement Thursday. “I applaud the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance for reaching a tentative agreement on a strong wage package that allows East Coast and Gulf ports to reopen while the parties finish negotiating a new contract “.
Buttigieg said the Transport Department would work closely with supply chain stakeholders “to support an orderly process of returning these ports to service and to encourage a good outcome in subsequent contract negotiations”.
