President-elect Donald Trump made his case for supporting the side of port labor, in the ongoing standoff between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) in a post recently issued on his Truth Social platform, following a meeting with ILA leadership, including ILA President Harold Daggett and ILA Executive VP Dennis Daggett.
“There has been a lot of discussion having to do with “automation” on United States docks,” wrote Trump. “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, in this case, our Longshoremen. Foreign companies have made a fortune in the U.S. by giving them access to our markets. They shouldn’t be looking for every last penny knowing how many families are hurt. They’ve got record profits, and I’d rather these foreign companies spend it on the great men and women on our docks, than machinery, which is expensive, and which will constantly have to be replaced. In the end, there’s no gain for them, and I hope that they will understand how important an issue this is for me. For the great privilege of accessing our markets, these foreign companies should hire our incredible American Workers, instead of laying them off, and sending those profits back to foreign countries. It is time to put AMERICA FIRST!”
This post comes at a time when there remains a lack of clarity regarding the stalled negotiations for a new Master Contract between the ILA and USMX.
As previously reported by LM, ILA and USMX resumed Master Contract discussions in November, “to discuss all outstanding issues to reach a new contract,” in advance of a January 15, 2025 deadline for a new deal. This followed a brief three-day strike on October 1, after the expiration of their previous six-year contract, which resulted in 36 East and Gulf Coast ports, stretching from Maine to Texas, going on strike for the first time since 1977.
ILA and USMX resumed Master Contract discussions in November, “to discuss all outstanding issues to reach a new contract,” in advance of a January 15, 2025 deadline for a new deal.
USMX said, at the time, that there was positive progress on a number of issues, but they were unable to make significant progress on discussions focusing on a range of technology issues.
“Unfortunately, the ILA is insisting on an agreement that would move our industry backward by restricting future use of technology that has existed in some of our ports for nearly two decades—making it impossible to evolve to meet the nation’s future supply chain demands,” said USMX.
The ILA countered, saying that for the first day and a half of meetings last month, discussions were productive, and both sides engaged in addressing serious issues but talks subsequently broke down when management introduced their intent to implement semi-automation, which ILA labeled “a direct contradiction to their opening statement where they assured us that neither full nor semi-automation would be on the table.”
ILA added that USMX claimed their focus was on modernization, not automation. And it added that ILA has always supported modernization when it leads to increased volumes and efficiency.
ILA President Daggett said that he is grateful to President-elect Trump for what he called Trump’s courageous support for American ILA longshore workers.
“He totally understands the threat that automation and semi-automation has in destroying jobs and families,” said Daggett. “He has stood up for us in his strong statement against the foreign-owned ocean carriers pushing automation on American ports and then taking their billion-dollar profits back home with them. I hope this strong support from President Trump will encourage USMX to remove any language on automated or semi-automated equipment in their proposals moving forward, and we can get a new Master Contract without any disruptions.”
As for the USMX, the organization said in a statement that it appreciates and values President-elect Trump’s statement on the importance of American ports, adding that it’s clear President-elect Trump, USMX, and the ILA all share the goal of protecting and adding good-paying American jobs at U.S. ports.
“But this contract goes beyond our ports—it is about supporting American consumers and giving American businesses access to the global marketplace—from farmers, to manufacturers, to small businesses, and innovative start-ups looking for new markets to sell their products,” said USMX. “To achieve this, we need modern technology that is proven to improve worker safety, boost port efficiency, increase port capacity, and strengthen our supply chains. ILA members’ compensation increases with the more goods they move—the greater capacity our ports have and goods that are moved means more money in their pockets. We look forward to working with the President elect and the incoming administration on how our members are working to support the strength and resilience of the U.S. supply chain and making crucial investments that support ILA members and millions of workers and businesses across the entire domestic supply chain, improving efficiency and creating even more high-paying jobs for ILA members.”
Last week, a letter penned by 267 trade associations, led by the National Retail Federation (NRF), to ILA President Harold Daggett and USMX Chairman and CEO David Adam, called on them to return to the negotiating table, in advance of January 15, when the current contract between the parties expires.
The associations writing the letter represent various types of supply chain stakeholders, including American manufacturers, farmers and agribusinesses, wholesalers, retailers, importers, exporters, distributors, and transportation and logistics providers, among others.
“It is imperative for the parties to resume negotiations and remain at the table until a new contract is reached,” the letter stated. “We know significant issues remain between the parties. However, we continue to believe the only way to resolve these issues and come to an agreement is to actually stay at the negotiating table. The continuing start and stop of the negotiations leads to further uncertainty in the supply chain, which continues to cause challenges. The three-day strike in October had a significant impact on supply chain stakeholders that rely on the East Coast and Gulf Coast ports. The additional costs from mitigation efforts as well as post-strike resumption are still being felt. Companies have continued to implement mitigation strategies because of the ongoing threat of another strike in mid-January if a new contract is not achieved.”
The letter’s authors made it clear they understand that automation and technology continues to be the biggest issue of disagreement between the parties, adding that they continue to believe there is a path forward for the parties to address this issue.
“It is critical that our ports and terminals have the ability to modernize their systems and processes in order to remain globally competitive and be able to handle the continuing rise of trade volumes, both imports and exports, through our ports,” stated the letter. “Modernization can only happen through true partnership between labor and management, as well as the other supply chain stakeholders that rely on these ports. Modernization efforts will benefit all parties and are essential to address current and future throughput issues.”
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