The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance reached a tentative agreement on a six-year contract covering workers at East and Gulf Coast ports, according to a joint statement released Wednesday night.
The tentative deal is subject to ratification by the two parties. The ILA and UMSX said they would not release any details about the agreement to allow union and USMX members time to review and approve the final document. The two parties will operate under their current contract until the new deal is ratified.
Concerns about the use of automation at ports were central to the negotiations, but language from the joint statement indicates inroads were made on that issue.
“This agreement protects current ILA jobs and establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while modernizing East and Gulf coast ports – making them safer and more efficient, and creating the capacity they need to keep our supply chains strong,” the ILA and USMX said in the statement.
The deal comes after nearly eight months of negotiations and prevents a potential strike on Jan. 15 when a previous tentative deal was set to expire.
The two sides set the Jan. 15 deadline in October after reaching a tentative deal to extend their current master contract following a three-day strike. However, talks stalled in November before picking up again in recent days.
With the deadline nearing, several trade groups this week urged the two parties to come to a resolution to avoid a work stoppage that would delay shipments at ports across the East and Gulf Coasts.
