The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) have started new negotiations on the Master Contract for dockworkers on the US East and Gulf coasts.
The talks focus on significant wage increases for dockworkers as well as future automation in the ports, which the union considers a threat to jobs. Back in autumn 2024, the first round of talks led to a two-day strike until the parties reached a tentative agreement and extended the current agreement until 15 January.
If the two sides do not reach a deal by 15 January, dockworkers at container ports that handle more than half of U.S. ocean imports could start a strike just days before President-elect Donald Trump's 20 January inauguration.
At the start of October 2024, the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) wrote that a lack of access to ports could "seriously harm the US manufacturing sector and lead to temporary and permanent mill closures."
