The International Longshoremen's Association strike is over so everyone can relax, right?
Not quite.
On Oct. 3, ILA members at the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) announced they had reached a tentative agreement that would reopen ports from Maine to Texas. Those ports had shut down when the strike began Oct. 1.
The ports now must clear cargo ships that had backed up during the brief shutdown. ICIS noted that about 65 vessels were waiting at the Port of Houston in the hours before the deal was announced.
And, even more important, USMX and ILA still must complete negotiations for a final contract.
The initial agreement calls for a 61.6 percent wage increase for union members over the next six years. But one of the biggest issues in the talks — when and how ports will be automated — remains open. ILA and USMX have set until Jan. 15 to complete those talks, so another work stoppage could happen if nothing is solved by then.
Thomas Kohler, who teaches labor and employment law at Boston College, told the Associated Press that he thinks the two sides must be close, however.
"I'm sure that if they weren't going anywhere, they wouldn't have suspended [the strike]," he said. "They've got wages. They'll work out the language on automation, and I'm sure that what this really means is it gives the parties time to sit down and get exactly the language they can both live with."
How bad could that have gotten? Plastics News' Frank Esposito has an in-depth look at that question, which we'd published online just a few hours before the settlement was announced. Let's hope we don't have a reason to revisit Frank's reporting early in 2025.