In a major labor dispute that might have a significant impact on the US and global economies, dockworkers and longshoremen in East Coast ports are currently on strike.

After years of record profits for the shipping corporations that employ them, thousands of members of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) went on strike on Tuesday, demanding protections against automation and a significant pay raise.

President Biden, who has supported the ILA and the collective bargaining process in the face of demands to put an end to the strike, faces electoral challenges as a result of the strike.

Here are the specific points regarding the strike to be aware of:

1. Longshoremen want increased compensation.
   A pay and benefits package from the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), a consortium of businesses that run ports on the East and Gulf Coast, is in question in the negotiations; thus far, the union has rejected it.
   The ILA released a statement on Monday stating, "The Ocean Carriers represented by USMX want to enjoy rich billion-dollar profits that they are making in 2024, while they offer ILA Longshore Workers an unsatisfactory wage package that we reject."
   Following massive government stimulus packages, corporate profits generally reached all-time highs in the wake of the pandemic. Today, earnings account for almost the biggest portion of the GDP since the 1930s, according to one source.
   
   

2. Protection from automation
   Similar to workers in many different industries who have recently taken part in labor strikes, longshoremen likewise have significant concerns regarding automation.

ILA member Jack Pennington posted a blog entry on Monday titled, "I got some news for the same naïve idiots that think [automation is] a wonderful thing."

"I ask you this: Did the Big Three automakers reduce the cost of an automobile when they chose to introduce robotic machinists, assemblers, painters, upholsterers, welders, and countless other robots into production under the false pretense and promises that it would - remember this quote -'save the consumer money?'" "The simple response is 'No,'" he wrote.
USMX stated on Monday that while it has proposed a pay raise, it wishes to maintain the existing contractual language about automation.
In a statement, the company said, "Our offer would keep the present wording around automation and semi-automation, expand our health care alternatives, triple employer contributions to employee retirement plans, and increase pay by over 50%."

The longshoremen's strike is stopping work at ports on the Gulf and East coasts, endangering vital supply networks and perhaps causing delays and disruptions in the movement of commodities ranging from cars to fresh food.

Among other commodities, shipments of food, machinery, auto parts, and medications are handled at the dozens of impacted locations from Maine to Texas. While the ports are still closed, some cargo will become trapped. In an effort to win greater pay and limits on automation at the ports, union members who load and unload ships and maintain equipment are going on strike.

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