Thousands of dockworkers at ports on the East and Gulf coasts are preparing to go on strike at midnight Monday when their current contract is set to expire, as negotiations with port employers for a new labor contract have reached an impasse.
Port workers have some of the highest wages among blue-collar workers. Under the current contract with the East Coast union, a top-scale longshoreman could earn up to $39 an hour, which translates to about $81,000 a year. But many workers take overtime and extra shifts that have higher rates.
Neither the union nor the ports have disclosed exact pay levels. But according to a 2020 report by the Waterfront Commission, the regulator that oversees New York Harbor, more than half of the longshoremen based there made $150,000 or more.
The 47,000 dockworkers represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association are asking for higher pay, claiming that “ocean carriers’ profits skyrocketed from millions to mega-billion dollars, while ILA longshore wages remained flat.”
The ILA is asking for a $5-an-hour raise for each of the six years of the new contract, which means the hourly rate could reach $69 by 2030. The union is also asking for better benefits and opposing the use of automated technologies at ports.
The work stoppage, the first for the East Coast ports since 1977, is expected to impact more than 50% of U.S. imports. As companies make contingency plans, many shipments will be diverted to West Coast ports, straining the capacity there and likely creating severe backlogs.
