The International Longshoremen’s Association expects to shortly take the next steps toward ratifying a new contract with East and Gulf Coast port employers.
Union leadership will be scheduling meetings “in the next few weeks” with ILA wage scale delegates to review the tentative agreement with terminal operators and ocean carriers of the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), said a source close to the negotiations.
Pending the delegates’ expected approval, a ratification date would be set for union members to vote on the six-year master contract covering pay and benefits for 25,000 dockworkers in container handling at ports from Texas to Boston.
The sides on Jan. 8 averted a looming port strike with an announcement that they had come to a tentative agreement that will allow employers to deploy semiautomated container cranes and other robotic equipment in exchange for job guarantees for union members.
The tentative agreement includes a 62% pay raise over the life of the contract, which was originally agreed to following the end of a brief strike by the ILA in October.
An extension of the current contract was set to expire Jan. 15. The ILA will continue to work under those terms until a new pact is ratified.
The USMX did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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