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Workers went on strike on Tuesday, Oct. 1 amid an ongoing and contentious negotiation with USMX, causing picket lines to form at ports from Maine to Texas.
As part of the agreement that got dock workers back on the job, they reportedly secured a hefty pay raise as they continue to negotiate until the January deadline, at which point a strike could resume.
The strike stood to potentially cost the country billions of dollars, depending on how long it continued, leaving some making a beeline to area stores to stock up on essential items, leaving some shelves bare.
It also led to upwards of 50,000 workers being out of a job for several days, though they were happy to get back at it on Friday, Oct. 4.
"The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. have reached a tentative agreement on wages and have agreed to extend the Master Contract until Jan. 15, 2025 to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues," the two posted in a joint statement.
"Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume."
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris joined the cacophony of voices celebrating the end of the strike, issuing a statement of their own when the agreement was made official.
"I want to applaud all involved for their efforts," they said. "This step indicates progress toward a strong contract and represents the power of collective bargaining.
"As I have said, this is about fairness – and our economy works best when workers share in record profits. Dockworkers deserve a fair share for their hard work getting essential goods out to communities across America."
Port Of Baltimore
The three-day close of the port came after a challenging several months as Baltimore, and the rest of the region continues to deal with the fallout of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in March, which halted traffic across the channel for months.
"This has been a historically difficult year for Baltimore's port workers with the tragic Key Bridge collapse," Mayor Brandon Scott stated.
"I am deeply relieved to hear that a tentative agreement has been reached."
"We congratulate the ILA and USMX on reaching a tentative agreement and avoiding an extended work stoppage," a spokesperson for the Port of Baltimore said.
"When strikes occur, even for a short time, the impacts are significant," they continued. "The port industry is one of our nation's leading job generators and is critically important to our national supply chain.
"We're delighted to have the Port of Baltimore working again."
Port Authority
In the tri-state area, according to the ILA, "a silver lining to the three-day strike by the ILA in New York and New Jersey was the close bond that developed between the striking ILA members and the Port Authority Police."
"The Port Authority cops were terrific,” ILA President Harold Daggett said. “They respected my ILA members and treated them with dignity and respect while we were on strike this week. They cooperated with our ILA strike captains and maintained peace and safety as the ILA picketed at all our terminals.”
Officials said that "handshakes between ILA members and port authority police, and offers of coffee and food by ILA picketers to the Port Authority cops provided clear illustrations of the respect and concern they had for each other."
"It’s natural for emotions to run high during strikes, where confrontations and altercations might be the norm," Daggett continued. "But the Port Authority Police kept things under control by allowing my ILA members to peacefully protest."
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