Longshoremen on the East and Gulf Coasts return to work after an agreement on wages

Thousands of longshoremen on the East and Gulf Coasts will return to work after a tentative wage agreement, ending one of the biggest labor disruptions in decades.

In a joint statement, the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) and the International Longshoreman's Association said both sides had reached an agreement to extend their current employment contract until January 15 and continue negotiations.

“The International Longshoremen's Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. have reached a preliminary agreement on wages,” the union and the alliance said in a joint statement.

“With immediate effect, all current work activities will be suspended and all work covered by the framework agreement will resume,” the statement said.

The terms of the interim collective agreement were not disclosed in the joint statement.

The International Longshoremen's Association, known as ILA, argued that major global freight companies have reaped huge profits since pandemic-era supply chain problems drove up freight rates, and that workers have not sufficiently shared in those profits.

The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) represents major ocean freight and port operators.

The union also called for a limit on automation in ports. The joint statement only mentions wages.

The strike began at midnight on Monday and lasted until Tuesday. The ILA strike, which closed ports, is the first since 1977. This strike lasted 44 days.

The work stoppage affected ports from Maine to Texas. The governors of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Maryland, among others, called for a quick resolution to the labor dispute.

President Joe Biden on Thursday praised both sides for finding a way to reach a tentative deal to allow ports to reopen and talks to continue.

“Today’s tentative agreement on a record wage and expansion of the collective bargaining process represents critical progress toward a strong contract,” Biden said.

The interim collective bargaining agreement and resumption of labor appears to allay fears of higher prices for consumers and supply chain problems if the disruption had dragged on, and it also temporarily calms a contentious labor issue with about a month left in the U.S. presidential election campaign.

Both sides still need to come to an agreement on the question of automation, which has developed into a more existential issue. Ports around the world have embraced technologies that can make shipping faster, cheaper and safer, with U.S. ports now routinely lagging behind international ports in efficiency.

A 2024 Government Accountability Office report found that U.S. ports had adopted some automation, but that worker resistance as well as costs hindered the adoption of automation technology.