End of the longshore strike in the United States, an agreement reached

American longshore workers will return to work after three days of strike, the union and employers announced Thursday in a joint statement, while the blockade of ports in the United States threatened to cause shortages and price increases one month before the presidential election. .

The Longshoremen’s Union (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents their employers, reached an agreement in principle on salaries and agreed to extend the framework contract until January 15, 2025 in order to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issuesaccording to a joint press release.

So, from now on, all ongoing actions will cease and all activities covered by the framework contract will resumeit is specified.

The press release does not provide details on the terms of the salary agreement. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cites people familiar with the matter, employers proposed a 62% wage increase over six years, which enabled this agreement.

The two parties will therefore have to meet again to discuss by January.

They have the next 90 days to put everything togetherJoe Biden told reporters Thursday evening, back at the White House.

The American president had, shortly before, welcomed this agreement in a press release, which will make it possible to reopen East Coast and Gulf portset represents crucial progress towards a solid contract.

He also thanked union workers, carriers and port operators who are acting with patriotism to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of essential supplies for recovery and rebuilding following Hurricane Helene.

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Port Everglades longshore workers continued their picket lines near the port entrance October 3, 2024 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Photo : Getty Images / Joe Raedle

Joe Biden refused to intervene in the conflict, and the White House spokesperson judged thatit’s about time the USMX negotiated a fair deal with the longshoremen that reflects their important contribution to our economic recovery.

Former President Donald Trump, who is seeking a new term, said in Milwaukee that Joe Biden should have worked out an agreement between them and noted that the tank tops represent the force lives of the country.

Some 45,000 members of the longshore union (ILA) have been on strike since Tuesday at 36 ports of the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) on the East Coast and on the Gulf of Mexico, for lack of agreement on a new agreement social status of six years.

This averages over $2.1 billion in business value per day, according to multiple sources.

This agreement actually only concerns 25,000 union members who work in the container and vehicle import-export terminals of 14 major ports (including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Savannah, Miami, Tampa and Houston).

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US President Joe Biden visited North Carolina on Wednesday following the passage of Hurricane Helene in the southeastern United States.

Photo : Reuters / Evelyn Hockstein

Now one month before the November 5 election, this strike threatened to cause shortages and fuel inflation.

The carriers, forced to reroute their boats, had planned to apply surcharges: an additional $1,000 per container for the German shipowner Hapag-Lloyd, between $800 and $1,500 for its French competitor CMA CGM, according to the German platform. Logistics Container xChange.

And up to $3,780 for the Danish giant Maersk, according to analysts at TD Cowen.

At the same time, prices increased to destinations where there was no strike.

Joe Biden warned Tuesday that his administration would monitor any price gouging activity that would benefit foreign shipowners, including those serving on the USMX board.

According to Oxford Economics, each week of strike would have reduced the American GDP by 4.5 to 7.5 billion dollars and, in turn, up to 105,000 people could have lost their jobs.

Transportation Minister Pete Buttigieg reported Wednesday that maritime carriers had seen their results jump about 350% in ten years, while longshoremen’s wages had increased by only 15% over the same period.

Discussions, which began in May, were suspended for several weeks then reactivated a few hours before the previous contract expired Monday evening.

The Alliance had raised its offer, proposing in particular a salary increase of 50% over the duration of the agreement, which had been rejected by the union. The latter initially demanded 77%, according to American media, and notably calls for more protections against job losses linked to automation.

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