NORTH BERGEN, NJ (December 4, 2024) – In nearly six decades as a longshoreman, local labor official, district and international officer, and currently in his fourth term as leader of 85,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, International President Harold J. Daggett has participated in numerous Master Contract negotiations over time where some of the thorniest issues were resolved by the ILA and its management negotiating partners. From raises in wages, to rules on containers; from creating and funding a national health care plan called MILA, to hammering out drug and alcohol programs; to developing and managing the Container Royalty Agreement, the union and ocean carriers always came to terms on Collective Bargaining Agreements.
The ILA clearly understands the importance of securing a Master Contract Agreement that fully protects its members and already showed they would strike to win their demands.
As ILA and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) attempt to come to terms on a new six-year-agreement – the third one President Daggett will have led bargaining as the ILA’s Chief Negotiator – a stalemate over automation and semi-automation threatens to cause another coastwide strike in less than six weeks.
After a tentative agreement on wage increases was reached in early October 2024, following a three-day coastwide strike at Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports, ILA and USMX agreed to an extension of the current contract to January 15, 2025, to reach agreement on all other terms in the Master Contract Agreement. Four days of ILA-USMX negotiations were scheduled for early November, but late into the second day of meetings, the employers represented by USMX looked to expand the use of semi-automated rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMSs), causing the talks to break down.
“USMX-ILA negotiations ended when management introduced their intent to implement semi-automation – a direct contradiction to their opening statement where they assured the ILA that neither full nor semi-automation would be on the table,” said ILA President Daggett. “The ILA has always supported modernization when it leads to increased volumes and efficiency. We embrace technologies that improve safety and efficiency, by only when a human being remains at the helm.
“Our fight in these current negotiations is not just to protect our current ILA workforce, but future generations of longshore workers,” the ILA Leader added. “Automation, whether full or semi, replaces jobs and erodes the historic work functions that the ILA fought hard to protect.”
President Daggett cautioned USMX to take his, and ILA rank-and-file members’ resolve seriously.
The ILA is prepared to strike again if an agreement is not reach by January 15, 2025.
“Our ILA members are ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to win this battle against automation,” said President Daggett. “They understand it’s a fight for their very survival.”
The ILA Leader added that his union was energized by the global support it continues to receive from countless dockworker unions and labor organizations.
“We have solidarity pledges from the International Dockworkers Council, the International Transport Workers Federation maritime unions from Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and Australia,” said President Daggett. “This campaign against automation and the threat it poses to longshore workers everywhere is expanding and growing by leaps and bounds.”
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