Dockworkers and US Ports Reach 6-Year DealDockworkers and US Ports Reach 6-Year Deal

The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and port employers have reached a tentative six-year deal to avoid an impending strike.

The ILA union represents 45,000 dock workers on the US East and Gulf Coasts. The ILA and the US Maritime Alliance (USMX) employer group, in a joint statement, called the agreement a "win-win." The deal includes a resolution in automation, which had been the thorniest issue of on the table.

"This agreement protects current ILA jobs and establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while modernizing East and Gulf coast ports — making them safer and more efficient, and creating the capacity they need to keep our supply chains strong," the groups said per a Reuters article.

A previous strike at 36 ports on the two coasts in October 2024 was the first strike in almost 50 years. Dockworkers wanted pay increases as well as a stop to automation projects that they say could affect their jobs.

Terms of the new deal were not disclosed. ILA and USMX have agreed to continue operating under the current contract until the contract is ratified.