The port strike in the East of the United States escalated, and the strike wave broke out in German ports
The East American Bay International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) held a two-day wage standards congress to review the union's main contract demands to the American Maritime Union and discuss strike action if a new agreement is not reached by the time the current six-year agreement expires on September 30. At this time, ILA and its employer, the United States Maritime Union (USMX), have not returned to the negotiating table for the master contract.
Harold Daggett, president of the American East Pier Union, issued a public statement threatening strike action if no agreement was reached by 00:00 on October 1. On September 5, 2024, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) pay scale delegation concluded contract negotiation discussions with unanimous support for the call for a strike on October 1. Nearly 300 International Longshoremen's Association wage grade representatives unanimously supported ILA International President Harold Daggett's plan to strike all ports from Maine to Texas on October 1, 2024, if a new agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) is not reached by then. Dennis A. Daggett, ILA Executive Vice Chairman and son of Chairman Harold Daggett, detailed the strike mobilization plan. "Brothers and sisters, it would be a big deal if we were unable to sign a new master contract before the current one expires in three weeks and four days. We must be prepared to take to the streets at 0:01 am on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, if necessary."
Beyond the current contract negotiations, Harold Daggett spoke about his vision to form a global union of longshoremen and seafarers. He wants to fight automation on a global scale.
A strike by the International Chamber of Shipping would have a major economic impact on the United States. Maritime intelligence analysts estimate that U.S. East Coast ports will handle 2.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in October. This equates to 74,000 containers per day. Based on MDS Transmodal's estimated price of $50,000 per box, the average daily value of these shipments is up to $3.7 billion. Sea-Intelligence estimated that the one-day strike at the International Shipping Association would take five days to subside. A week-long strike in October could slow shipping until mid-November.
In addition, the German Port of Hamburg was again in the grip of a large-scale strike on September 4 local time, which was launched by workers in the port of Hamburg to demand more favorable wage contract terms.
Verdi, the main union representing workers in the Port of Hamburg, has officially announced a new round of warning strikes starting with the first shift at 7am on 4 September and ending at 7am on the night shift the following day, 5 September. According to the announcement, during the strike period, all terminals owned by Hamburg Port and Logistics AG (HHLA) will completely stop all loading and unloading operations, including rail and truck services. More critically, even if the strike ends, work may not resume immediately, further exacerbating uncertainty about the movement of goods.
It is worth noting that this is not the first recent strike action in the Port of Hamburg, as it happened on Friday, and it reflects the deep contradiction between the HHLA's efforts to improve terminal efficiency and the demands of workers. The Verdi union made clear in its statement that it is working towards a broad social collective agreement aimed at protecting employees from the social and health impacts of the company's restructuring plans.
Global freight forwarding giant Kuehne+Nagel has issued an early warning on its official website, stressing that a new round of strikes by workers at the Port of Hamburg will have a significant impact on the logistics chain. In view of the frequent strikes at several major ports in Germany in recent months, and the current impasse in negotiations, the industry generally predicts that there is still the possibility of further strike action.
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