ILA sends longshore contract to rank-and-file for approval

Rank-and-file members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) will vote Feb. 25 on what union leadership called “the hardest and most complicated contract to bargain … in the history of the ILA” with East and Gulf coast port employers.

The announcement posted late today by the ILA on social media followed unanimous approval of the new six-year master contract by the union’s Wage Scale Committee.

Approval by 25,000 union members in container handling would end a contentious period of bargaining with terminal operators and ocean carriers that began in early 2023 and bottomed out during a three-day strike this past October that brought container traffic to a halt at 14 ports from Massachusetts to Texas.

In a video posted to YouTube, ILA President Harold Daggett called the pact “an incredible contract package” that would cost employers a conservative estimate of $35 billion, up from $18 billion for the previous contract negotiated in 2018. He offered some details:

— A 62% pay raise over six years, from an average 2% per year over the past 24 years

— Job guarantees linked to the introduction of semi-automated equipment on the waterfront

— Accelerated pay raises for new workers, to help build the workforce

— Full payment, or royalty, for each container handled returned to the ILA

— Raises in contributions to retirement plans

— Strengthening of the union healthcare plan

— Resolved issues concerning vacations and holidays

Daggett in the video said the union would “address and resolve” the issue of absenteeism, warning members who accept job orders and then not show up for work could “jeopardize the value” of the new contract, and compromise the ILA’s aim to outperform automation.

“This has got to stop!” Daggett said, raising his voice.

The union had fought bitterly against the introduction of automation, charging foreign-based ocean carriers sought to eliminate jobs while earning billions in profits. The USMX said container handling was desperately need at its ports, where efficiency lagged global rivals and would hinder further growth.

Union members will receive details of the agreement at local meetings in the next two weeks and then participate in the ratification vote on Feb. 25.

USMX said that members unanimously approved the terms of the contract at a meeting in January.

In the video, Harold Daggett’s son, Dennis, executive vice president, said that the sides had agreed that no new technology would be implemented without early, detailed discussion and negotiations on the local level, 30-day demonstration periods, and mutual consent, and that there would be no reduction of manning or hours due to that implementation. A New Technology Committee will oversee the local process. If agreement cannot be reached, the issue will go to binding arbitration. All technology agreements are port/terminal specific, meaning technology introduced at a terminal in a port must undergo a separate process to be used at another facility in the same port.

The International union can also request an audit of any technology that has completed the implementation process. A violation of the master contract could result in an employer having to pay $10,000 per day to the container royalty fund.

The new contract also bars automation, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing from performing clerical functions.

For beneficial cargo owners, the new pact protects the ILA’s jurisdiction to maintain and repair chassis, even if a chassis is sold or transferred by a carrier to an entity outside the agreement.

The terms of the contract establish a baseline of one ILA worker per rail-mounted or rubber-tired gantry crane, which can be operated remotely if the worker oversees the complete handling process. Remote control is forbidden for ship-to-shore cranes.

Wage Scale Committee delegates representing ILA locals from Maine to Texas gathered Friday in Hollywood, Florida, where they were presented with details of the contract by the Daggetts. The delegates also heard from Paul DeMaria, chief operating officer and lead negotiator for employers represented by the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX).

“I believe our work here today moves us to the ratification vote…when ILA rank-and-file members will vote on what I believe is the greatest ILA contract, and the greatest contract negotiated by a labor organization,” said Harold Daggett, the union’s chief negotiator. “Our collective strength helped produce the richest contact in our history.”

The elder Daggett credited De Maria, and the “courageous actions” of President Donald Trump, who backed the union after meeting with the Daggetts at Mar-a-Lago in December, for helping to agree on a tentative contract.

A representative of USMX said the employers’ group would have no comment.

The new agreement is retroactive to Oct. 1, 2024, and, if ratified by ILA members, will be in effect until Sept. 30, 2030.

Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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