President Biden says that he will not block a potential strike at East and Gulf Coast ports.
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) have yet to reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining deal, with the ILA preparing to go on strike on October 1. And although the federal Taft-Hartley Act gives the president the authority to head off any strike and impose an 80-day “cooling off” period, a spokesperson for Biden tells Reuters that there are no plans to intervene.
“We’ve never invoked Taft-Hartley to break a strike and are not considering doing so now,” the spokesperson confirmed.
In a statement released on September 17, the ILA reiterated its plans to go on strike if its proposed contract terms aren’t met by the USMX, and accused the USMX of engaging in “an ugly propaganda campaign” to paint the ILA in a negative light. The ILA pulled out of planned negotiations in June, after discovering that a handful of ports were using automated systems to process trucks.
In September 17 release of its own, the USMX called for the ILA to return to the bargaining table, adding that “it is disappointing that we have reached this point where the ILA is unwilling to reopen dialogue unless all of its demands are met. The ILA is reportedly pushing for a 77% wage increase over the next six years, in addition to “ironclad” language that bans the use of automation at ports.
