Port Strike on Both Coasts is Looming– ILA Threatens Walkout on Sept. 30

Nearly 300 International Longshoremen’s Association Wage Scale Delegates ended their two-day Wage Scale Meetings on 9/5 in New Jersey by unanimously supporting International President Harold J. Daggett’s call for a coastwide strike at ports from Maine to Texas on October 1, 2024, if a new agreement with United States Maritime Alliance is not reached at that time.

On the second day of meetings in Teaneck, New Jersey attended by ILA Wage Scale Delegates from the 13 port areas that are part of the ILA-USMX Agreements, ILA Executive Vice President Dennis A. Daggett laid out the union’s Strike Mobilization Plan that would be enacted if a new agreement is not reached by the September 30th expiration of the current six-year agreement.

“Sisters and Brothers, it will be monumental if we are without a new Master Contract to replace the current one that expires in three weeks and four days from today,” ILA President Daggett told his ILA Wage Scale delegates. “We must be prepared if we have to hit the streets at 12:01 AM on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.”

Harold Daggett and International Executive Vice President Dennis A. Daggett discussed the potential for a coast-wide strike in a video on 9/4:

“USMX remains committed and prepared to resume negotiations with the ILA on a new Master Contract before the current agreement expires and to avoid a strike. The ILA continues to strongly signal it has already made the decision to call a strike and we hope the ILA will reopen dialogue and share its current contract demands so we can work together on a new deal, as we have done successfully for nearly 50 years,” in a statement posted by USMX.

“Our offer demonstrates a willingness by our Members to reach a new deal before the end of this month.”