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The International Longshoremen’s Association will vote later this month to ratify a labor contract with East and Gulf Coast port employers (World Cargo News). 
 
What’s going on: The ILA Wage Scale Committee unanimously approved the deal with the United States Maritime Alliance at a meeting last Friday in Florida, capping “months of clashes between the union and USMX over automation, with the ILA demanding the elimination of past labor contract concessions on automation to preserve dockworker jobs.” 

• The contract terms, which the ILA has said will not be made public, “allow us to modernize our ports—making them safer and more efficient and building the capacity we need to keep the American economy the global leader in trade,” USMX Chairman and CEO David F. Adam said in January, following a tentative agreement between the two sides.
• If ratified by ILA members in a vote on Feb. 25, the new contract and its benefits will be retroactive to Oct. 1, 2024, and the agreement will remain in effect until Sept. 30, 2030. 

The background: In October, a three-day worker strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports was resolved temporarily. The two sides came together to reach agreement on the long-term contract currently undergoing ratification.