ILA Rank and File Members Ready To Take Ultimate Stand To Win A Fair Contract

Recently, members of The International Longshoremen's Association said they would go on strike on October 1 to demand their wages and benefits. North BERGEN, NJ - (September 17, 2024) Tens of thousands of ILA Longshore workers from ports from Maine to Texas are united in their determination to sign a new contract with their employer, the United States Maritime Union (USMX). Within two weeks, they were ready to strike to demand wages commensurate with the billions of dollars in profits the shipping companies were making.

At 0:01 a.m. on Oct. 1, a strike is highly likely at all ILA ports located along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts as time runs out to reach a new general contract agreement. ILA's Longshore Longshoremen know that now is the time to stand up and fight for the new wage standards. This pay scale should not only compensate them for the contribution they make to their employers and the industry as a whole, it must also address the erosion of current wage levels by high inflation. Harold J. Daggett, chairman of the ILA, said: "If a new general contract agreement is not reached by Tuesday, October 1, 2024, the sleeping giant will be ready to roar. My members have been preparing for the possibility of a strike for over a year."

The ILA union said USMX chose to launch a malicious campaign that stigmatised ILA Longshore dockworkers as "greedy" instead of negotiating in good faith and respecting workers' interests. They are trying to cover up their own incompetence and failure in negotiations that began nearly two years ago, when USMX entered exploratory talks with the union unprepared. In addition, USMX leaked details of talks with ILA leadership regarding the union's demands for wage increases and continued protection of automation. "USMX claims to offer industry-leading wages, yet their definition of 'industry-leading wages' is completely at odds with ours," the ILA wrote in a letter to members earlier this week. "Inflation has completely eaten up any pay rises and the cost of living has skyrocketed, compared to six years ago, it is nothing like that." Our members are struggling to pay their rent, mortgage, car payments, daily living expenses, utility bills, taxes, and even their children's education. The greed of USMX employers has made them delusional - profits are higher than ever. They exploit low-ranking workers through low wages and a three-year hierarchical promotion system."

The ILA said it would take action if USMX did not change its position. "We are the cornerstone of this industry - without our labor, ships would not function," ILA continued.

"The only thing we can guarantee to workers is the guarantee of an hourly wage, a daily wage or a shift. Our grassroots members don't get a fixed salary - they work while the ship is docked and only have the opportunity to earn an income if their seniority allows it." ILA's grassroots members will no longer accept terms in total contracts that include wage increases of less than one dollar per hour or year, and employers sometimes don't even ask for any wage increases during the contract period. "For more than three decades, ILA workers' annual wage growth has averaged only 2.02 percent." ILA indicates. "For many years this percentage was zero, including the period from 1993 to 1996, when ILA Longshore workers did not have any wage increase. This treatment is not acceptable in negotiations for the ILA deep water long shore workforce, especially until 2024."

"ILA also intends to recover all funds received through the industry container sharing system. "The container share was initially negotiated as a supplemental wage," the ILA wrote in a letter to members. 'That's the money our members have earned through hard work! Our members should never have to share their share of containers with the currently profitable shipping companies. It was these record profits that motivated the ILA wage Standards Committee to seek higher wage increases in the next general contract agreement."

"USMX must face the reality that the years of sporadic wage increases of one dollar per hour are history," said Harold Daggett, chairman of the ILA. "Since USMX would rather leak our wage demands than report billions of dollars in profits to the media from their member companies, I can make it clear that we are indeed looking for significant wage increases." Our ILA members never stopped working during the COVID-19 pandemic and continued to work even when ILA Longshore workers died or became seriously ill. While the companies that employ ILA pay billions of dollars in bonuses to their executives, our Longshore workers work 24/7 in extreme cold and heat. Why don't we ask for a raise of $10 an hour? ILA's Longshore workers deserve this raise, and these companies can afford to pay it. The ILA firmly believes that with less than two weeks left in the current six-year agreement, their opportunity to negotiate fair wages is at hand."

"With the solidarity of ILA (International Longshoremen's Association) members and the support of the International Longshoremen's Federation ready to join the ILA in its fight against USMX, President Harold Daggett is confident that ILA members will reach a landmark agreement, even if it takes an all-coastal strike beginning October 1 to achieve it."

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