Above photo: Local ILA chapter says port strike is suspended until January after days on picket lines. WCIV.
Local International Longshoremen’s Association workers claim the port strike is over, Kenneth Riley with Local 1422 said to News 4.
Riley, the international vice president of the ILA and ILA Local 1422 member, claimed the dockworkers got the automation language and significant pay raises included in the contract. However, the deal is far from over.
The union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, is to resume working immediately at least until January while contract negotiations continue.
“Now that the parties have agreed to resume their roles in our supply chain success, South Carolina’s maritime community stands prepared to deliver for shippers, including manufacturers, farmers and retailers, who utilize our port facilities to access global markets,” said South Carolina Port Authority Chief Executive Office Barbara Melvin. “Let’s get to work!”
Local ILA leaders claim they feel “confident enough” to end the strike after being on the picket line since Tuesday.
“That’s the way negotiations go. If he gave them our word that in 90 days we can reach an agreement, believe me, we will get one,” said Charles Brave Jr., president of ILA Local 1422.
While on strike, local workers told News 4 the decision to walk off the job wasn’t an easy one, but a necessary one.
“It was hard because a lot of families are being impacted. The economy is being impacted, so this is something that we don’t take lightly, but this is something that we have to do. We’re long overdue. We can’t keep working in a pandemic and not be recognized or paid for that,” said Marquette Mapp, a longshoreman with Local 1422.
The agreement will allow the union and the U.S Maritime Alliance, which represents the shippers and ports, time to negotiate a new six-year contract, according to The Associated Press.
A person briefed on the agreement said the ports sweetened their wage offer from about 50% over six years to 62%. The person didn’t want to be identified because the agreement is tentative. Any wage increase would have to be approved by union members as part of the ratification of a final contract, according to the AP.
The union’s membership won’t need to vote on the temporary suspension of the strike. Until Jan. 15, the workers will be covered under the old contract, which expired on Sept. 30.
The union went on strike early Tuesday after its contract expired in a dispute over pay and the automation of tasks at the ports from Maine to Texas. The strike came at the peak of the holiday shopping season at 36 ports that handle about half the cargo from ships coming into and out of the United States.
The union has been demanding a complete ban on the use of automation at the ports, which they see as a threat to their jobs. Both sides also have been apart on the issues of pension contributions and the distribution of royalties paid on containers that are moved by workers.
The fight for job protection from automation and artificial intelligence in Charleston gained support from across the country.
“We can’t have automation take over all these jobs. We’ve got to make sure that we’re listening to people about how they’re going to use technology to improve their jobs, not to eliminate their jobs,” said Congressman Ro Khanna of California.
Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Tim Scott, two outspoken conservatives, both celebrated the end of the strike.
Scott took to X, formerly Twitter, and claimed the strike ending was “Good news for our supply chain, economy, and most importantly, all those who are suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.”
Graham, who as recently as Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to intervene in the strike, echoed a similar sentiment.