Some of the busiest ports in the US were braced for crippling disruption after about 45,000 port workers represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) began walking off the job after their contracts expired at midnight.
Talks over a new union contract between the ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) broke down on Monday and workers were expected to begin striking at 12.01 am ET on Tuesday with 36 ports along the east and Gulf coasts affected.
Workers began picketing at the port of Philadelphia shortly after midnight, the Associated Press reported, walking in a circle at a rail crossing outside the port and chanting, “No work without a fair contract.” The port of Virginia also confirmed the work stoppage.
The strike – the first by port workers strike on the US East coast since 1977 – threatens to shut down ports from Maine to Texas, mangling supply chains and straining the US economy.
Negotiators on both sides of the table have accused the other of refusing to bargain. The ILA has argued that USMX, which represents 40 ocean terminals and port operators, has “low-balled” offers on wage raises for workers and accused it of violating the previous contract by introducing automation at several US ports.
It is estimated the strike will cost the economy as much as $5bn a day. The union has said it will still handle military cargo, and that passenger cruise ships will be unaffected.
USMX filed an unfair labor practice charge against the union with the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, alleging the union was refusing to negotiate. Ahead of the strike on Monday, USMX said they and the union had exchanged new offers on wages. The union countered by claiming the charge was a “publicity stunt”.
Current wages under the contract that expired on Monday range from $20 an hour to the top wage of $39 an hour. The union is seeking raises of 77% over the six-year contract, to a top rate of $69 an hour by 2030.
The Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the US, issued a statement ahead of the strike in support of the union.
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“Let us be clear: the employers, not the workers, have shirked their responsibility and punted labor negotiations to the 11th hour, when the damage to the public and the national supply chain would be most detrimental,” said Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, president and secretary-treasurer of TTD. “While USMX seeks to cast blame on the frontline workers who move our supply chain, they are at fault.”
The White House has been monitoring the rift between the union and USMX, urging both sides to reach an agreement. The AFL-CIO has urged House Republicans against interfering by pushing to impose an injunction to block the strike. Joe Biden said ahead of the strike that he did not plan to interfere to block it.