Thousands of dockworkers on the East and Gulf Coast are set to return to work after reaching a tentative agreement on wages, thus bringing one of the largest work stoppages in decades to an end.
"The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. have reached a tentative agreement on wages and have agreed to extend the Master Contract until January 15, 2025 to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues," the union and the alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies, said in a joint statement. "Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume," the statement said.
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), representing 45,000 dockworkers, argued that the workers saw little of the huge profits obtained by big global cargo carriers. "Collective bargaining works, and it is critical to building a stronger economy from the middle out and the bottom up," President Joe Biden said of the deal.
