An East and Gulf Coast port labor strike is becoming “more likely” in October, the International Longshoremen's Association said in a statement on Wednesday. The union represents roughly 85,000 members, including port workers on the two coasts.
The statement follows a week of rising tensions in its negotiations with the United States Maritime Alliance, known as USMX, which represents shipping lines and other port employers. On Monday, the labor union canceled scheduled talks with USMX over alleged automation at multiple ports, which the ILA says violates their current agreement. On Wednesday, the union added concerns over pay to its list of grievances through its press release.
The ILA said it obtained financial records of several ocean carriers that show billions of dollars in profits in the past years. The union specifically called out CMA CGM, COSCO, Hapag-Lloyd and Evergreen as having earned tens of billions of dollars in revenues, while union pay did not increase.
“USMX member-company’s profits are enormous, amounting to billions of dollars, and the ILA will demand wage increase commensurate with these revenues,” the union said in a statement.
The labor union also doubled down on its decision to not meet with USMX until the auto gate issue is resolved.
Meanwhile, the USMX on Tuesday said it looks forward to re-engaging the ILA on both local and master contract negotiations.
