The decision by the Ocean Alliance to hold off on calling the newly opened Leatherman terminal is a sign the dispute between South Carolina and the International Longshore Association over the crane and yard work being handled by non-union state employees is heating up.
ILA Labor Negotiations
ILA Labor Negotiations
The International Longshoremen’s Association and its employers at U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports are discussing an early, long-term extension of their coastwide contract that expires Sept. 30, 2018. The goal: an agreement that spares cargo interests an experience such as the one they endured during the epic 2012-13 bargaining between the ILA and United States Maritime Alliance. Those negotiations yielded a six-year contract, but only after nearly a year of rocky negotiations and repeated strike threats.
Press Releases
News & Analysis
04 May 2021
An ongoing dispute between longshore labor and employers in the port of Charleston, South Carolina, in the wake of the now-ended strike in Montreal, could pale in comparison to a looming confrontation over terminal automation when negotiations begin on a new US West Coast contract next year.
09 May 2019
The Port of New York and New Jersey and other ports along the Gulf and East coasts are looking at how to reduce the cost and productivity loss that occurs when longshoremen hired for the weekend are unable to work due to vessel delays.
06 Jun 2018
An agreement between the International Longshoremen's Association and United States Maritime Alliance removes a great deal of uncertainty for shippers that send cargo through East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, and should spare them the need to take precautionary measures to prepare for a possible strike.
23 Mar 2018
International Longshoremen's Association and United States Maritime Alliance committees report “significant progress” during two days of bargaining on a new master contract that BCOs hope will be settled well in advance of the Sept. 30 expiration.
09 Mar 2018
Although the International Longshoremen's Association has not had a coastwide strike since 1977, beneficial cargo owners are anxious to have a new agreement in place.
14 Jan 2018
ILA and USMX officials had hoped to agree on a contract extension that would reassure the hundreds of shippers who will attend the JOC’s annual Trans-Pacific Maritime (TPM) conference March 4-7 in Long Beach, California.
07 Dec 2017
A closer look at contract extension talks for the US East and Gulf coasts suggests less cause for alarm.
05 Dec 2017
Hopes are are high among trade participants; shippers would be delighted if a long-term deal is struck, as it would support supply-chain certainty.
06 Oct 2017
Last summer’s contract extension by the ILWU and the PMA increased pressure for an agreement on the East and Gulf coasts.
26 Sep 2017
Riley to seek expanded jurisdiction at new terminal.
25 Sep 2017
No formal proposals yet, but Daggett plans to convene ILA delegates.
05 Aug 2017
ILWU three-year contract extension is now official
16 May 2017
“Bring your cargo, it’s going to be fine.”
27 Feb 2017
A statement issued at JOC's 17th Annual TPM Conference seeks to allay shipper fears.
23 Feb 2017
“Thousands of companies and millions of workers rely on these ports.”
22 Feb 2017
Management group for US East and Gulf coasts reminds union of contract's no-strike clause.
05 Jan 2017
Union president Harold Daggett takes to Facebook in advance of February meetings.
10 Aug 2016
The International Longshoremen’s Association won't discuss a contract extension until disputes over the current contract are resolved.
30 Jun 2016
Both sides say they're still interested in an early deal, but talk of a 10-year contract has cooled.
18 Nov 2015
A top International Longshoremen's Association official said escalating health care costs have complicated efforts to reach a new or extended East and Gulf coast dockworker contract before the current one expires in September 2018.
29 Oct 2015
A senior leader of the International Longshoreman’s Association expressed optimism on Wednesday over a multiyear contract extension with East and Gulf Coast employers but said it won’t happen by the end of the year.
24 Jul 2015
Hard to believe, but true: Just three and a half years ago, International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett was in Long Beach, warning the JOC’s Trans-Pacific Maritime conference about “dark clouds” over 2012’s soon-to-begin ILA contract negotiations.
23 Jul 2015
Dennis Daggett, son of International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett, was elected Thursday to the union’s No. 2 post as several other mostly younger ILA officials also were elevated to higher positions.
22 Jul 2015
Congressional proposals to clamp down on longshore unions in reaction to West Coast port slowdowns could backfire, warned the chief attorney for waterfront employers on the East and Gulf coasts.
21 Jul 2015
George Cohen, retired director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, took a curtain call at this week’s International Longshoremen’s Association convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
21 Jul 2015
The chief negotiator for East and Gulf waterfront employers told International Longshoremen’s Association officials that any long-term contract extension would involve “tweaks,” not a total rewrite of the current six-year agreement.
02 Jul 2015
The International Longshoremen’s Association and its U.S. East and Gulf coast employers plan additional meetings after two days of “productive” talks on a contract extension that could run to 202
26 Jun 2015
The International Longshoremen’s Association and its East and Gulf Coast employers are exploring a long-term contract extension. Here’s a look back at the bargaining that led to their current six-year agreement.
25 Jun 2015
The new or extended contract being explored by International Longshoremen’s Association and its East and Gulf Coast employers could run until 2025, seven years beyond the current agreement’s 2018 expiration.
26 Mar 2015
Members of Baltimore’s largest International Longshoremen’s Association voted to end 18 months of uncertainty b
24 Mar 2015
Several dozen Baltimore dockworkers have filed a lawsuit challenging their national union’s takeover of their local chapter and dismissal of 500 new members before Wednesday’s referendum on a local contract.
20 Mar 2015
The International Longshoremen’s Association and United States Maritime Alliance said they “strongly oppose” any attempt to place the longshore industry’s collective bargaining under the Railway Labor Act.
18 Mar 2015
Putting waterfront labor under the Railway Labor Act will be a heavy legislative lift with a divided Congress and a union-friendly White House. And, it’s unclear if such a move would prevent “economic warfare” — whether from union slowdowns and the withholding of labor, or employers’ refusal to hire workers.
13 Dec 2014
International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett said the ILA won’t change its contract bargaining process, except possibly to try to reverse the order in which coastwide and local agreements are negotiated.
13 Dec 2014
A second arbitrator has ruled that the no-strike clause in the coastwide master contract the International Longshoremen’s Association ratified last year applies even in ports where bargaining on supplementary local contracts remains incomplete.
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