Port strike of 2024
The port strike of 2024 began on Tuesday, October 1st. Longshoremen under the International Longshoremen's Association, the trade union covering all major ports along the East Coast and Gulf Coast of America went on strike to get higher wages and to curtail automation. [1]
- The union agreed on Thursday (Oct 3) to suspend the strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract. [1]
According to The Washington Post, "Today, the shipping industry is at the forefront of a second revolution...It is now possible to run a dockyard with almost no humans present...The two key jobs — operating cranes and moving containers around — can be automated...Cranes pick up the heavy containers from the ships and sort them on shore...Then trucks carry the containers from the dock to wherever they need to go next — a railroad or trucking hub or storage facility...People are needed to oversee things, but their role is now more akin to air traffic control..Maintenance and IT jobs also remain...But the bottom line is: Fewer workers are needed".[2]
CBS News said: "Pay for longshoremen is based on their years of experience. Under the ILA's former contract with USMX, which expired on Monday, starting pay for dockworkers was $20 per hour. That rose to $24.75 per hour after two years on the job and to $31.90 after three years, topping out at $39 for workers with at least six years of service." [3]
The 2024 Kamala Harris presidential campaign, fearful of affecting the November elections, intervened very quickly, before much damage is done. At least to push it off till Mid-January 2025.
The workers returned to work Oct 4, as negotiators reached an agreement on wages. [4]
References
- ↑ (October 3, 2024). Dockworkers’ union to suspend strike until Jan. 15 to allow time to negotiate new contract. AP.
- ↑ Washinton Post, Opinion The real reason 47,000 dockworkers are on strike, By Heather Long, October 1, 2024.
- ↑ (October 4, 2024). ). How much do dockworkers make? Here is the pay raise they secured in tentative new deal. CBS News.
- ↑ Yurkevich, Vanessa. Isidore, Chris. (October 4, 2024). Striking port workers to return to work Friday as negotiators reach an agreement on wages. CNN.
