The dockworker union that brought half of U.S. container trade to a halt in October 2024 has voted to ratify a new labor contract with their port and ocean carrier employers.
Nearly 99% of workers backed the contract, International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett said in a statement. “We now have labor peace for the next six years.”
The ILA-USMX accord is good news for the importers, retailers and consumers on edge from the uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration’s trade policies and tariffs.
“Retailers welcome this resolution to the supply chain uncertainty that has lingered along the East & Gulf Coast for some time,” said Jess Dankert, supply chain vice president at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, whose members include Best Buy, Target and Home Depot.
The ILA walked out of every major container port from Houston to Boston when their previous contract with U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), representing port operators, terminal operators and ocean carriers, expired on October 1. Under intense pressure from the Biden administration, the ILA agreed to suspend the strike for three months in exchange for a 62% raise over the next six-year contract.
Though the strike lasted three days, the closure halted the flow of about half of the country’s containerized trade, causing dozens of ships to back up and a supply chain seizure that took weeks to fully unwind.
But the temporary deal left the issue of technology on the table and the union declared an impasse in November 2024 over the employer group’s use of semi-automated cargo handling equipment and other technology.
With a little over a month to go before the new deadline — and his inauguration — Donald Trump pledged his support for the dockworkers after a meeting with Daggett and his son and second-in-command, Dennis.
“I’ve studied automation, and know just about everything there is to know about it. The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers,” Trump said in a December 12 social media post.
The ILA and U.S.MX announced a tentative deal a week before the Jan. 15 deadline.
In a video to union members, Daggett said the new contract was worth about $35 billion — nearly twice the value of the previous agreement. He also touted royalty funds, enhancements to the union’s health care plan and other benefits.
The new contract also contains full protection against job-replacing automation, an issue that was nearly intractable during the negotiations.
There were wins for employers, too. Ports America CEO Matthew Leech described the deal as “a real partnership agreement” that separates the hot-button issue of automation from other efficiency enhancing technology.
“For us this is a really critical contact that really defines the next six years of how we operate,” said Leech. Ports America is a member of USMX and the largest employer of ILA labor in the U.S. The contract itself gives employers a pathway to implement technology as long as it doesn’t reduce jobs, he said.
Absenteeism
In the video address ahead of the ratification vote, Daggett addressed a complaint from employers about the reliability of longshore labor.
“How can we fight against automation and then go and tell companies we are not going to show up? This has to stop,” Daggett said.
Employers also got assurances that ILA leadership would work with local chapters to address a lack of labor reliability port operators say introduces uncertainty and makes it hard to plan.
USMX members unanimously approved the contract last month and the two sides are expected to sign the contract at a meeting during the week of March 10, according to a USMX spokesperson.
The Daggetts have pledged to convene longshore labor groups from around the globe once the ILA-USMX contract is finalized.
“This contract, when ratified, will become the gold standard among dockworker unions globally,” Harold Daggett told members in a social media post last week.
