Violent clash in Baltimore as picketing port workers attack truck driver trying to work

The East Coast port workers’ strike turned ugly overnight in Baltimore, hours after a contract between ports and members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) lapsed at midnight.

A trash hauler appeared on television with blood streaking down his face, saying striking workers had attacked his vehicle at picket lines at the Broening Highway Dundalk Marine Terminal in southeast Baltimore.

The waste remover, known only as Robin, told Fox 5 that striking dockers stormed his truck as he tried to enter the port, smashed his windshield and ‘lacerated my face’.

‘I come here for seven years. I’ve pulled the trash and the debris out of here for the Port of Baltimore,’ Robin said.

‘The officer told me to come back and go in there and get out of my way, and they attacked me and broke the windshield and lacerated my face. Look at it.’

Workers began picketing at the Port of Baltimore shortly after midnight, reportedly trying to stop trucks from entering the area

Union members at the scene reported that Robin’s truck had collided with the picketers as they swarmed around the vehicle. The injured driver was later assisted by an ambulance crew and spoke to police about the clash.

On social media, pro-union activists slammed the trash hauler as a ‘scab’ and accused cops of being ‘anti worker.’ Still, others blamed strikers for making unreasonable demands and blocking workers from accessing the port.

Baltimore Police Department did not immediately answer The Mail’s request for more details.

The incident in Baltimore was the first sign of violence to blight a strike over wages, job security, and automation between port owners and the union’s roughly 45,000 members that started at midnight.

The industrial action affects 36 ports from Maine to Texas and is the first by the union since 1977.

Members seek a pay rise that works out at about 77 percent over six years. For union members on a typical rate, their wage would go from $81,120 to around $143,520. 

Workers began picketing at the Port of Baltimore shortly after midnight, walking in a circle holding signs that read ‘Machines Don’t Feed Families Support ILA Worker’ and ‘No Work Without A Fair Contract.’

Supply chain experts say consumers won’t see an immediate impact from the strike because most retailers stocked up on goods, moving ahead shipments of holiday gift items.

But if it goes more than a few weeks, a work stoppage would significantly snarl the nation’s supply chain, potentially leading to higher prices and delays in goods reaching households and businesses.

If drawn out, the strike will force businesses to pay shippers for delays and cause some goods to arrive late for peak holiday shopping season – potentially impacting delivery of anything from toys or artificial Christmas trees to cars, coffee and fruit.

International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) members and their supporters picket at the Dundalk Marine Terminal at the Port of Baltimore on Tuesday

Hundreds of longshoremen strike together outside of the Virginia International Gateway in Portsmouth, Virginia, on Tuesday.

The strike will likely have an almost immediate impact on supplies of perishable imports like bananas, for example. 

The union had message boards on the side of a truck reading: ‘Automation Hurts Families: ILA Stands For Job Protection.’

At Port Houston, which is in the Central time zone an hour behind the East Coast, at least 50 workers gathered outside the port with signs saying ‘No Work Without a Fair Contract’ shoirtly after midnight on Tuesday. 

They appeared poised to begin picketing. Workers showed a statement from the ILA on the strike saying that employers have refused to compensate workers fairly.

‘The ILA is fighting for respect, appreciation and fairness in a world in which corporations are dead set on replacing hard-working people with automation,’ the statement said. 

‘Robots do not pay taxes and they do not spend money in their communities.’

The U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents the ports, said Monday evening that both sides had moved off of their previous wage offers, but when picket lines went up just after midnight, it was apparent that no deal had been reached.

The ports that affected by the shutdown include: 

• Baltimore and Brunswick, Georgia, the top two busiest auto ports
• Philadelphia, which gives priority to fruits and vegetables
• New Orleans, which handles coffee, mainly from South America and Southeast Asia, various chemicals from Mexico and North Europe, and wood products such as plywood from Asia and South America.

Other major ports affected include Boston; New York/New Jersey; Norfolk, Virginia; Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Tampa, Florida; Mobile, Alabama; and Houston.

Workers take part in a port strike at Port Newark, Tuesday, in Bayonne, New Jersey.

On Monday evening, the alliance said it had increased its offer to 50 percent raises over six years, and it pledged to keep limits on automation in place from the old contract

The union’s opening offer in the talks was for a 77 percent pay raise over the six-year life of the contract, with President Harold Daggett saying it’s necessary to make up for inflation and years of small raises. 

ILA members make a base salary of about $81,000 per year, but some can pull in over $200,000 annually with large amounts of overtime.

But on Monday evening, the alliance said it had increased its offer to 50 percent raises over six years, and it pledged to keep limits on automation in place from the old contract. 

The union wants a complete ban on automation. It wasn’t clear just how far apart both sides are.

‘We are hopeful that this could allow us to fully resume collective bargaining around the other outstanding issues in an effort to reach an agreement,’ the alliance statement said.

The union didn’t answer requests for comment on the talks Monday night, but said earlier in the day that the ports had refused demands for a fair contract and the alliance seemed intent on a strike. The two sides had not held formal negotiations since June.

The alliance said its offer tripled employer contributions to retirement plans and strengthened health care options.

Supply chain experts say consumers won’t see an immediate impact from the strike because most retailers stocked up on goods, moving ahead shipments of holiday gift items

An image made with a drone shows shipping containers at the Seagirt Marine Terminal. The ILA strike shuts down 36 ports up and down the East and Gulf Coast, and cause the biggest supply chain disruption since the Covid pandemic

The Port of Virginia spent Monday preparing for the work stoppage and said on its website early on Tuesday morning that the strike had begun.

‘As a result of the expiration of the master agreement between United States Maritime Alliance and the International Longshoremen’s Association, there is a work stoppage at the Port of Virginia and other ports along the U.S. East and Gulf coasts,’ the website said.

Railroads say they can ramp up to carry more freight from the West Coast, but analysts say they can´t make up the cargo handled to the east.

‘If the strikes go ahead, they will cause enormous delays across the supply chain, a ripple effect which will no doubt roll into 2025 and cause chaos across the industry,’ noted Jay Dhokia, founder of supply chain management and logistics firm Pro3PL.

J.P. Morgan estimated that a strike that shuts down East and Gulf coast ports could cost the economy $3.8 billion to $4.5 billion per day, with some of that recovered over time after normal operations resume.

The strike comes just weeks before the presidential election and could become a factor if there are shortages. 

Retailers, auto parts suppliers and produce importers had hoped for a settlement or that President Joe Biden would intervene and end the strike using the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows him to seek an 80-day cooling off period.

But during an exchange with reporters on Sunday, Biden, who has worked to court union votes for Democrats, said ‘no’ when asked if he planned to intervene in the potential work stoppage.

A White House official said Monday that at Biden’s direction, the administration has been in regular communication with the ILA and the alliance to keep the negotiations moving forward.

The president directed Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard to convene the alliance’s board members Monday afternoon and urge them to resolve the dispute fairly and quickly – in a way that accounts for the success of shipping companies in recent years and contributions of union workers.