The International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA) said that negotiations with United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) have broken down, opening up the possibility of more industrial action at US ports.
During October 2024, three days of strike action by ILA members on the US Gulf and East coasts brough dozens of ports and terminals to a standstill. The action was postponed as a deal on wages was agreed; the parties continued to negotiate on other issues such as automation and retirement benefits.
A statement on November 13 from the ILA revealed that discussions with USMX have now hit an impasse. “Talks broke down when management introduced their intent to implement semi-automation – a direct contradiction to their opening statement where they assured us that neither full nor semi-automation would be on the table. They claimed their focus was on modernisation, not automation,” said the union.
Commenting on the negotiations, USMX said: “Over the last two days, USMX met with the ILA to bargain and resolve all remaining outstanding issues needed to reach agreement on a new master contract. While we had positive progress on a number of issues, we were unable to make significant progress on our discussions that focused on a range of technology issues.
“Unfortunately, the ILA is insisting on an agreement that would move our industry backward by restricting future use of technology that has existed in some of our ports for nearly two decades – making it impossible to evolve to meet the nation’s future supply chain demands.”
