Paul Berger of The Wall Street Journal reports that unionized dockworkers will vote this week on a contract lasting through September 2030, which is expected to pass Tuesday. It includes a 62% pay raise and limits on automation, hailed as “historic” by the ILA. Employers support it for allowing efficiency-boosting tech like remote cranes. Valued at $35 billion, it raises hourly rates from $39 to $63. Costs won’t heavily impact retailers; shipping firms may feel it if rates fall. Berger reports:
Unionized dockworkers will vote this week on a labor contract that retailers and manufacturers hope will secure peace on the waterfront through September 2030, banishing fears of a repeat of a three-day strike in October that hobbled U.S. trade.
Workers are widely expected to ratify the new contract on Tuesday, which International Longshoremen’s Association leaders are heralding as a “historic” win with a 62% pay increase and “full protection against automation” across East Coast and Gulf Coast ports.
Some port employers are privately heralding the deal, too. […]
ILA President Harold Daggett, in a video to members outlining the terms of the contract earlier this month, said the six-year deal is valued at an estimated $35 billion cost to employers, almost double the sum for the last multiyear deal. His son Dennis Daggett, the union’s executive vice president, said the contract outlines a process for employers to introduce technology in consultation with the union, but blocks the use of fully automated equipment at ports.
Dockworkers are already among the highest-paid blue-collar workers in America, with many earning six-figure sums. The contract, which has already been ratified by employers, raises the base hourly rate for workers to $63 from $39. […]
After Biden administration officials secured dockworkers the pay increase last fall, President Trump also threw his weight behind the union. In December, he made public statements opposing automation and said employers should invest in wages instead of machinery.
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