A Strikewhich has the strength to assume historic proportions for the USA, began on Tuesday: For the first time in almost over 50 years, on October 1st, over 47,000 longshoremen and their union, the International Longhoremen’s Association (ILA), in ports on the East and Gulf Coasts of the USA.
This affects over 36 ports, including key ports for international container transport such as Baltimore, Houston, New York and New Jersey, the third largest port in the country. However, trade in oil, natural gas, coal and military supplies as well as the operation of cruise ships will not be affected.
In a statement on Monday, ILA President Harold Dagget said of the negotiations: “We are very far apart. Mark my words, we’ll shut them down October 1 if we don’t get the kind of wages we deserve.” (“We are very far apart. Mark my words: we will strike you on October 1st, if we don’t get the wages we deserve.”)
Threatening strikes at US ports
The reason for the strike is the collective agreement between the ILA and the ILA, which expired on September 30th United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), an association of container companies and port associations on the East and Gulf Coasts. The two negotiating parties have not met in talks since early summer.
Massive wage differences between the East and West Coasts
The USMX did not meet the demands of the ILA, which had demanded a wage increase of 77 percent over the next six years. However, the USMX only offered 40 percent. There is also a massive wage gap between the East and West Coasts.
While unionized longshoremen on the East and Gulf Coasts receive an hourly wage of $39, their colleagues on the West Coast receive $54.85. This rate is to be increased again by six dollars in the new collective agreement for the West Coast in 2027. Annualized, that means a difference of $35,000 (annual salary on the West Coast: 116,000, annual salary on the East Coast: 81,000).
At first impression, this annual wage may sound high by German standards. But if you look at them average annual expenditure of a household in the USA (approx. 77,000 US dollars), a wage increase is sorely needed given the increased inflation of the last few years. “The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) refuses to address half a century of wage suppression in which shipping companies’ profits soared from millions to megabillions of dollars while ILA port wages remained flat,” the said ILA on Sunday.
Not in the same boat: Shipping company cartels are making record profits due to delivery bottlenecks
In addition to a wage increase, the fight against impending job cuts is also one of the central demands of the striking port workers: They see their jobs threatened in view of the increasing automation in the port industry, i.e. the use of modern technology and robots, and are calling for a total ban on automation at ports – cranes, gates and the loading and unloading of cargo.
Whether automation and the growing influence of technology really leads to layoffs is a matter of debate between companies and port workers. Business associations deny there is a connection between layoffs and automation. But there are already crystal-clear examples from everyday work: driverless vehicles that can transport containers across the entire quay, huge cranes that can stack containers with only minimal human intervention, and so-called “auto gates” that can be used more quickly are already available at more and more ports Handling of trucks.
Severe strikes possible
This is enough to understand the extent of the current strike Look at some numbers: In the first seven months of 2024, the ten largest ports on the East and Gulf Coasts handled half of total U.S. imports at 50.8 percent. The ports on the East Coast are connected to trade routes that ship approximately 16.2 percent of the world’s TEU-mile containers (TEU = Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit, in German: twenty-foot standard container – an internationally standardized unit for counting ISO containers and to describe the loading capacity of ships). This makes them almost two thirds of US exports. Approximately $3.2 billion in value is shipped around the East and Gulf Coasts alone every day.
Effective strikes hurt!
However, economic analysts and companies are once again focusing primarily on the potential economic damage of a strike and say that the union is treating the American economy as a “hostage.” But since the Corona crisis and the blockage of the Suez Canal by a stuck freighter, companies have now prepared for delivery bottlenecks and significantly expanded their storage facilities. In fact, they would escape without major damage and would be able to cope with the resulting delivery delays, provided the strike does not last too long.
Concern about the election campaign – Democrats are losing support from the unions
The government and media companies sense an unpredictable crisis, and not just because of the potential loss of profits. Because of the upcoming presidential election on November 5th, government circles and the two competing parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, are hoping for a calm, crisis-free election spectacle – without having to worry about their voters and also having to explain potential supply bottlenecks or price increases. The increased cost of living in recent years and during President Joe Biden’s term in office is already playing a major role in the current election campaign.
Theoretically, Joe Biden would own it because of the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 the power to have the strike banned under hypocritical pretexts – for example a threat to national security or public health. But the Democrats have historically and traditionally been dependent on union support in election campaigns.
With the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) they recently lost the support of one of the largest unions in the US and the world (1.3 million members). It is the first time in nearly three decades that the transportation workers union has not endorsed a Democrat for president. But the union also does not see Donald Trump (Republican) as an acceptable representative for the workers. This is based on a decision by the US Congress in 2022 To force an anti-social collective agreement on 10,000 railway workers.
