ILA sets wage review as longshore contract nears ratification vote

The International Longshoremen’s Association is expected within days to send a tentative contract with port employers to membership for ratification.

A source familiar with the process confirmed to FreightWaves reports that the ILA’s local wage scale committees are scheduled to meet this week in Florida to review the pact with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) covering approximately 25,000 dockworkers in container handling at 14 ports on the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf Coast.

Once the committees approve the terms of the contract, it will be sent to union members for a ratification vote. The source confirmed a time frame that could see ILA workers vote later this month and draw their first paychecks under the new pact by early March. 

The contract provides job guarantees linked to the introduction of automation equipment, as well as a 62% hourly pay hike over six years retroactive to Oct. 1, 2024. That was when the ILA ended a three-day strike that shut down container and vehicle handling at dozens of maritime cargo centers from Boston to Texas.