Negotiations continue to avoid US strikes

Previous negotiations broke down when USMX proposed to cap container royalties – payments made to longshoremen based on the weight of the container cargo.

The ILA recently voted to authorise a strike when the current extension of the master contract ends on 29 December 2012. The strike would close 15 ports along the East and Gulf Coast from Maine to Texas, disrupting the flow of international trade and exports in and out of some the largest US ports including the Port of New York and New Jersey and the Port of Miami.

Port officials say that a strike could have serious consequences for the nation’s economy as well as for ILA’s members. According to media reports, if the parties fail to reach an agreement, the ILA’s 14,500 members would lose an estimated US$5m in wages a benefit for each day they’re out of work – a total of US$150m in lost compensation in one month.

The worry is that the shutdown would not only affect the livelihoods of ILA members but the lives of more than half a million other workers including manufacturers, retailers and farmers, who depend on the ports to get supplies and products to market.