MIAMI – Dockworkers at PortMiami and Port Everglades joined a nationwide strike overnight after failed negotiations between ports and the International Longshoremen’s Association.
Thousands of employees across the East and Gulf coasts are fighting for better wages and protections against automation.
On Tuesday, Local 10 reporters Hannah Yechivi and Joseph Ojo were at PortMiami and Port Everglades where strikes were underway.
More than 100 workers were spotted picketing at Port Everglades. Workers at both ports held signs saying they will not work until they secure a fair contract. Some chanted “ILA” and “union power.”
These workers unload cargo that comes into the port from major retailers who could start seeing some impacts, which then, in turn, could affect customers.
The South Florida workers said the goal is to make their presence felt because with them off the job, production stalls.
“The offer that we received from the USMA was laughable. It wasn’t what our membership was expecting for the labor that they put into this industry to keep the supply chain moving,” said Johnnie Dixon, ILA president of the Fort Lauderdale chapter. “It’s 100 percent corporate greed. Anytime the workers ask for more money, they always vilify the workers.”
Over at PortMiami, hundreds of workers gathered at the entrance to the port to join the nationwide protest.
“The automated machines would come to these terminals and replace the human body with automated machines that would try to do the jobs that we are doing currently,” Eugene Dixon, president of ILA Local 1416, said.
The strike by dockworkers at 36 ports from Maine to Texas, the first in decades, could snarl supply chains and lead to shortages and higher prices if it stretches on for more than a few weeks.
Workers began walking picket lines early Tuesday in a strike over wages and automation even though progress had been reported in contract talks. The contract between the ports and about 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association expired at midnight.
The strike comes just weeks before the presidential election and could become a factor if there are shortages.
The U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents the ports, said Monday evening that both sides had moved off of their previous wage offers. But no deal was reached.
The union’s opening offer in the talks was for a 77% pay raise over the six-year life of the contract, with President Harold Daggett saying it’s necessary to make up for inflation and years of small raises. ILA members make a base salary of about $81,000 per year, but some can pull in over $200,000 annually with large amounts of overtime.
Monday evening, the alliance said it had increased its offer to 50% raises over six years, and it pledged to keep limits on automation in place from the old contract. The alliance also said its offer tripled employer contributions to retirement plans and strengthened health care options.
The union wants a complete ban on automation. It wasn’t clear just how far apart both sides are.
In a statement early Tuesday, the union said it rejected the alliance’s latest proposal because it “fell far short of what ILA rank-and-file members are demanding in wages and protections against automation.” The two sides had not held formal negotiations since June.
Supply chain experts say consumers won’t see an immediate impact from the strike because most retailers stocked up on goods, moving ahead shipments of holiday gift items.
But if it goes more than a few weeks, a work stoppage could lead to higher prices and delays in goods reaching households and businesses.
If drawn out, the strike will force businesses to pay shippers for delays and cause some goods to arrive late for peak holiday shopping season — potentially impacting delivery of anything from toys and artificial Christmas trees to cars, coffee and fruit.
The strike will likely have an almost immediate impact on supplies of perishable imports like bananas, for example. The ports affected by the strike handle 3.8 million metric tons of bananas each year, or 75% of the nation’s supply, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
It also could snarl exports from East Coast ports and create traffic jams at ports on the West Coast, where workers are represented by a different union. Railroads say they can ramp up to carry more freight from the West Coast, but analysts say they can’t move enough to make up for the closed Eastern ports.
J.P. Morgan estimated that a strike that shuts down East and Gulf coast ports could cost the economy $3.8 billion to $4.5 billion per day, with some of that recovered over time after normal operations resume.
Retailers, auto parts suppliers and produce importers had hoped for a settlement or that President Joe Biden would intervene and end the strike using the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows him to seek an 80-day cooling off period.
But during an exchange with reporters on Sunday, Biden, who has worked to court union votes for Democrats, said “no” when asked if he planned to intervene in the potential work stoppage.
A White House official said Monday that at Biden’s direction, the administration has been in regular communication with the ILA and the alliance to keep the negotiations moving forward.
Dockworkers in South Florida said they plan to keep the strike going until they get a fair deal with increases to their pensions, increases to health benefits, higher entry level pay and better pay across the board.
There is no timeline on how long this will last, however, the strike is not expected to impact cruise operations or the gas supply in South Florida.