It's the first strike at the three dozen East and Gulf Coast ports since 1977, when dockworkers won major concessions.
The labor dispute centers on the level of pay increase and the degree of automation allowed at the ports.
"We are prepared to fight as long as necessary, to stay out on strike for whatever period of time it takes, to get the wages and protections against automation our ILA members deserve," ILA President Harold Daggett said in a statement on Tuesday.
Workers picketed at the ports just after their contract expired at midnight, carrying placards with messages such as: "Automation Hurts Families: ILA Stands For Job Protection"; "No Work Without a Fair Contract"; "Corporate Greed vs. Workers Rights: ILA Demands Fairness!"; and "Fight Automation, Save Jobs: ILA Demands Job Security."
Daggett spoke to picketers at a terminal in Elizabeth, New Jersey, saying the strike would "go down in history" and referencing his participation in the 1977 strike. He pointed the finger at USMX's global shipping companies, some of which are based in Europe, saying that they price-gouge their customers—echoing an argument the ILA had made in a statement Monday—and short-change dockworkers.
"Who's the greedy one here?" asked Daggett. "These companies over in Europe. They don't give a fuck about us. We're going to show them they're going to have to give a fuck about us. Because nothing's going to move without us."
In Philadelphia, workers walked in a circular picket line at a rail crossing outside the port, just after midnight, and chanted, "No work without a fair contract," The Associated Press reported. Local ILA president Boise Butler made remarks on wages and automation. Like Daggett, he mentioned the billions that shipping companies made during the pandemic.
"Now we want them to pay back," Butler said. "They’re going to pay back."
The striking dockworkers drew support from other unions, including the United Auto Workers (UAW).
"The UAW stands in solidarity with the 45,000 courageous port workers fighting for economic justice. Without their labor, nothing in this country moves," the UAW wrote on social media.
Most recently, some ILA dockworkers have reportedly had a base salary of $81,000 and some have earned as much as $200,000 with large amounts of overtime. They say their hours are extremely long and the conditions are harsh or even dangerous. The top hourly rate has been $39 and the hourly pay can be as low as $20 for "backbreaking, indispensable work," according to More Perfect Union, a progressive media outlet.
The ILA reportedly demanded a $5 per year raise in hourly pay over the course of a six-year contract, so that the top hourly rate in the final year would be $69. West Coast dockworkers reached a deal with operators that will have them earning just over $60 an hour by 2027. USMX offered only a $2.50 raise each year.
The two sides exchanged counteroffers regarding wages on Monday, with each side moving from its initial position, according to USMX.
President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has the authority under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act to break the strike and institute an 80-day cooling off period—a power that Republican presidents have used. Biden said Sunday that he doesn't plan to do so.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday pushed Biden to stick to that plan not to interfere.
"President Biden is right," Sanders wrote on social media. "He should not invoke Taft-Hartley to end the port strike. Dock workers are striking against excessive corporate greed. The shipping industry has made $400 billion in profits since 2020. It's time for dock workers to be treated with respect, not contempt."
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Biden faced a "quandary" five weeks before the election—not wanting to anger union allies and working class advocates by intervening, but also not wanting the strike to "weigh on the economy."
More than half of the country's container shipments go through the three dozen affected ports, and a prolonged strike would cause major economic disruptions, experts say. More Perfect Union wrote that "port owners' refusal" to meet union demands could cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars a week.
This story has been updated to include comment from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
