Longshoremen reach tentative agreement with ports, shippers, averting a potential strike U.S. longshoremen reached a contract agreement with ports and shippers Wednesday, averting a potential strike that could have damaged the American economy.
In a joint statement, the two sides said the agreement protects union jobs and allows ports on the East and Gulf coasts to modernize with new technology, "making them safer and more efficient, and creating the capacity they need to keep our supply chains strong.''.
The International Longshoremen's Association union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance of ports and shipping companies said they had reached a tentative agreement for a six-year contract, a week ahead of a Jan. 15 deadline.
According to a source familiar with the talks who requested anonymity because the details had not been made public, the agreement would give the ports more leeway to introduce modernizing technology.
But that truce was contingent upon reaching an agreement by Jan. 15 over automation: The union worried that machines — especially semi-automated cranes — would replace human workers.
