Tens of thousands of longshoremen at ports stretching from Maine to Texas have gone on strike.
Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) union state they are striking "for wages that are commensurate with the billion-dollar profits earned by” ocean carriers.
ILA members “will no longer accept master contracts that include small wage increases of a dollar or less, with the employers sometimes asking for no yearly increases within the terms of the agreement.”
On Sept. 26, the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which ILA officials say represent union members' employers, filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, requesting immediate injunctive relief “requiring the union to resume bargaining... so that we can negotiate a deal.
"USMX has been clear that we value the work of the ILA and have great respect for its members,” the group said in a brief statement.
The ILA claims to have more than 85,000 members who work at ports up and down the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts; along major U.S. rivers; across the Great Lakes region; and in Puerto Rico, the eastern part of Canada and the Bahamas.
The “coast-wide” strike is the first of its kind since 1977, ILA officials noted in a recent statement.
