TOPEKA, Kan. – East Coast and Gulf Coast longshore workers represented by the International Longshore Association (ILA) may strike if a new agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) is not reached before their six-year Master Contract expires on September 20, 2024.
The 80-page contract, effective since October 1, 2018, covers 19 sections, including wages, hours of work, benefit contributions, workforce utilization, drug and alcohol programs, grievance procedures, and workforce protection.
The USMX released a statement saying “forward progress” is happening.
“We would like to reassure our customers and the public that there is forward movement toward resolution of the local issues that are currently being reported through the media. To avoid any further disruption to the cargo flow and/or damage to our nation’s economy, USMX remains ready, willing, and able to return to the bargaining table with the ILA to resume Master Contract negotiations and to reach a new Master Contract agreement,” according to the statement.
Harold Daggett, president and chief negotiator of the ILA, announced that the union will present its final contract demands to the wage scale committee delegates on September 4 and 5 in Teaneck, New Jersey. This meeting will allow the ILA to prepare for a potential coastwide strike on October 1, 2024, if a new agreement is not reached.
“Longshoremen have a very difficult and sometimes dangerous job that is absolutely essential to our trade lanes,” said Leigh Ann Kane, Licensed Customs Broker and Certified Customs Specialist at F.H. Kaysing Co. (FHK).
Kane said the potential strike could impact supply chains in Kansas, particularly affecting the agriculture and manufacturing industries.
“When ocean freight arrives at a coastal port, longshoremen unload those vessels and move the shipping containers to a railyard, where the freight moves inland by train. Without longshoremen to load and unload vessels, cargo would bottleneck at the port,” Kane said. “If the strike is along the east and gulf coasts, cargo will likely need to be diverted either to west coast ports in the U.S. or to Canadian ports and move into the U.S. by rail.”
Kane added that while the strike’s impact on the availability and prices of consumer goods in Kansas is hard to predict, importers may pass on increased costs to consumers, leading to longer restocking times. However, she emphasized that strikes are temporary and alternative freight solutions exist.
“The last few years have actually been pretty wild for this industry. We have seen the threat of strikes from both Canadian and U.S. rail worker organizations. All were settled with minimal downstream effect. Of course, the biggest impact we’ve seen in a long time would be the COVID-19 pandemic. That had cargo backed up worldwide for almost two years,” Kane said.
FHK, based in Wichita, Kansas, offers logistics coordination services such as remote location filing, outport broker management, entry auditing, and post-entry representation.
