Workers at 36 U.S. ports have ratified a new contract after months of negotiations, ensuring work will continue at some of the country’s busiest ports for the next six years.
According to Reuters, 99 percent of the rank and file voters supported the ratification.
"Our collective strength helped produce the richest contract in our history," International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) President Harold Dagget said in a 7 February video message to union members about the negotiation process, which has spanned months.
The new contract includes a 62 percent wage increase over the six-year span of the new contract.
The path to a new deal encountered several hurdles.
Dockworkers went on strike in October 2024 when the previous master contract for dock labor expired without a new agreement in place; the strike was paused after three days when the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) agreed to wage increases.
When negotiations resumed in November, however, the ILA walked away from the negotiating table only two days after they resumed, citing port owners’ desire to introduce automation.
After pressure from trade groups, including the National Retail Federation and the National Fisheries Institute, as well as the urging of U.S. President Donald Trump, who signaled his strong support for the ILA before assuming office, negotiations resumed, and a deal was struck that achieved both the protection of current ILA jobs and, as the port owners and ILA said in a joint press release, “establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while modernizing East and Gulf coast ports.”
At the time, both the ILA and USMX credited President Trump with helping them finalize the compromise, with Dagget calling Trump, in a statement to members, “one of the best friends of working men and women in the United States.”
Though the news that the contract has been ratified was expected, the 99 percent rate of approval for the move signals strong support for the contract.
The ratification of the new contract removes one source of uncertainty for a shipping and import industry that has been forced to reroute and store cargo frequently to respond to global tensions over recent years.
