Dockworkers’ Strike Ends

Two days after it began the East Coast dockworkers’ strike has ended. Ry Rivard, Nick Niedzwiadek, and Lauren Egan report at Politico:

A dockworkers strike that threatened the U.S. supply chain weeks before an election is over just days after it began — a resolution that White House officials credited to weeks of quiet engagement with both sides, punctuated by President Joe Biden’s public efforts to heighten the pressure on shipping companies to reach a deal.

The union that represents tens of thousands of East Coast dockworkers and the shipping industry announced Thursday evening that they had reached a tentative agreement on wages and are extending an expired contract through Jan. 15. That outcome defuses a political time bomb for Democrats, especially Vice President Kamala Harris, who needs all the union support she can get but could not afford a prolonged strike that would have soured voters on the economy.

“Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume,” the International Longshoremen’s Association and the alliance of shipping companies that employ dockworkers said in a joint statement.

The increase is expected to be around 60 percent over six years, according to a person familiar with the matter. That would be a substantial raise for the union members, some of whom already do well by blue-collar standards, earning six figures a year. The workers load and unload cargo containers at ports along the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, a critical conduit for goods including automobiles and bananas.

That outcome should bring the wages of East Coast dockworkers into line with those of West Coast dockworkers which is the outcome that I thought was appropriate. The union’s opposition to automation is deeply troubling and likely to remain a sticking point.

An anecdote from the distant past. My godmother’s husband was a lithographer. Some time back in the 1950s his organization transitioned completely to offset printing and, as part of the settlement with the union on this issue, he effectively retired in his 50s. I suspect some sort of settlement of that sort is what the dockworkers are seeking. The circumstances in the United States are very different than they were 70 years ago. I’m skeptical the dockworkers will get the deal they are seeking. The most they are likely to achieve is to make the U. S. non-competitive.

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