The two parties, however, must restart the negotiations, because “they agreed to extend the framework contract until January 15, 2025 to return to the negotiating table to discuss all the other issues that still had to be resolved.” settlement”.
“They have the next 90 days to put everything together,” Joe Biden told reporters Thursday night, back at the White House. The American president, shortly before, had welcomed this agreement in a press release, which will make it possible to “reopen ports on the East Coast and the Gulf”, and “represents progress essential towards a hard contract”. He also thanked the “union workers, transporters and port operators who are working patriotically to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of essential supplies for recovery and re -built after Hurricane Helene.”
“life force”
About 45,000 members of the dockers’ union (ILA) have been on strike since Tuesday in 36 ports of the United States Maritime Federation (USMX) on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, for the lack of agreement on a new social agreement six year. old This averages over $2.1 billion in business value per day, according to multiple sources.
In fact this agreement only applies to 25,000 union members who work in the container and vehicle import/export facilities of 14 major ports (including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Savannah, Miami, Tampa, Houston).
Joe Biden refused to intervene in the conflict. The White House spokesman said “it is time for the USMX to negotiate a fair deal with dockworkers that reflects their significant contribution to our economic recovery.” “
Former President Donald Trump, who is seeking a new term, thought in Milwaukee that Joe Biden “should have worked on an agreement between them” and noted that – the work of the docks representing the “living force” of the country.
Now a month before the November 5 election, this strike threatened to cause fuel shortages and inflation. The carriers, forced to send their ships back, had planned to impose fees: an additional $1,000 per vessel for the German ship owner Hapag-Lloyd, between $800 and $1,500 for its French competitor CMA CGM, according to the German logistics platform Container xChange. And up to $3,780 for Danish giant Maersk, according to analysts at TD Cowen. And, at the same time, prices rose to destinations where there was no strike.
Up to $7.5 billion per week
Joe Biden warned Tuesday that his administration would monitor “any price-gouging activity that would benefit foreign ship owners, including those serving aboard the USMX.”
According to Oxford Economics, each week of strike would have reduced the American GDP by 4.5 to 7.5 billion dollars and, in turn, up to 105,000 people could lose their jobs. Transport Minister Pete Buttigieg reported on Wednesday that ocean carriers saw their profits jump by around 350% in ten years while wages for dockworkers rose by just 15% over the same period.
Negotiations, which began in May, were suspended for several weeks and then reactivated a few hours before the previous contract expired on Monday night. The Federation had raised their offer, specifically recommending a 50% wage increase over the period of the agreement, but this was rejected by the union. He initially asked for 77%, according to the American media, and specifically asked for more protection against job losses related to automation.
2024-10-04 02:41:59
#Dockers #return #work #United #States #agreement #principle #Temps
