Aerial photo of Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore, Maryland, October 3, 2024.
Anna Moneymaker | getty images
The American Longshoremen’s Union and the United States Maritime Alliance agreed to a tentative agreement on wages on Thursday and extended the existing contract until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract.
The move ends a strike that has swept East Coast and Gulf Coast ports since earlier this week, threatening U.S. supplies of fruit, cars and other goods.
“The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. have reached a tentative agreement on wages and will extend the Master Agreement until January 15, 2025, bringing all other outstanding issues to the negotiating table. We agreed to go back.” The International Longshoremen’s Association and the American Maritime Alliance stated: joint statement.
Over the course of this week, the strike has already begun to stress the U.S. supply chain. CNBC previously reported that thousands of containers were dumped in the wrong ports, leaving billions of dollars worth of goods stuck at sea because the ports were not operational. Shipping costs have already started to rise.
The strike is the ILA’s first since 1977 and has affected operations at 14 ports. This week, about 50,000 of the union’s 85,000 members went on strike. In a statement Tuesday, ILA President Harold Daggett said: said The union had demanded a $5 per hour raise each year over the six-year contract.
Under the tentative agreement, ILU wages would increase by 61.5% over six years, sources told CNBC’s Lori Ann LaRocco. The central conflict over port automation is still being negotiated.
