Roughly 45,000 U.S. longshore workers went on strike Oct. 1, closing ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast that together are responsible for more than half the nation’s imports. It’s the first strike since 1977 for members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA). They earn far less than members of the West Coast longshore union ILWU: ILA wages start at $20 an hour and top out at $39 after six years, less than the ILWU longshore starting wage of $40 an hour.
Meanwhile, shipping companies have lately been earning record profits. ILA wants a new contract that will raise wages $5 an hour each year for the next six years; employers are offering half that. ILA also wants to limit expansion of technology in the ports to preserve jobs.
ILA said the strike will not extend to military cargo or passenger cruise ships.
The 1947 Taft-Hartley Act gives presidents the authority to intervene in strikes that they deem a threat to national security, but President Joe Biden said he won’t invoke Taft-Hartley.
