TruthOut10
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- Dec 3, 2012
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A breakdown in collective bargaining for a new master agreement between the International Longshoremen's Association, or ILA, and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, or USMX, could lead to the second major labor-management dispute in the country's container-shipping industry this month.
The ILA -- representing more than 14,500 dockworkers at 14 ports along the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico from Maine to Texas -- has set a strike deadline for Dec. 30 at 12:01 a.m. EST.
The walkout could be avoided at that time should the USMX -- representing all the major marine-terminal operators and port associations on the East and Gulf coasts, as well as 24 container carriers -- agree to extend the current contract until Feb. 1 by taking one key issue off the table.
However, the parties have not yet come to a meeting of the minds on this key issue, which centers on so-called container royalties.
"USMX seems intent on gutting a provision of our master contract that ILA members fought and sacrificed for years to achieve," ILA President Harold J. Daggett said in a statement. "We have repeatedly asked them to leave this item alone -- it was a hard-won gain by ILA members and a wage supplement achieved through hard-fought negotiations."
US East And Gulf Coast Ports Strike Deadline Set For Sunday
The ILA -- representing more than 14,500 dockworkers at 14 ports along the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico from Maine to Texas -- has set a strike deadline for Dec. 30 at 12:01 a.m. EST.
The walkout could be avoided at that time should the USMX -- representing all the major marine-terminal operators and port associations on the East and Gulf coasts, as well as 24 container carriers -- agree to extend the current contract until Feb. 1 by taking one key issue off the table.
However, the parties have not yet come to a meeting of the minds on this key issue, which centers on so-called container royalties.
"USMX seems intent on gutting a provision of our master contract that ILA members fought and sacrificed for years to achieve," ILA President Harold J. Daggett said in a statement. "We have repeatedly asked them to leave this item alone -- it was a hard-won gain by ILA members and a wage supplement achieved through hard-fought negotiations."
US East And Gulf Coast Ports Strike Deadline Set For Sunday
