Input Stories

Another strike at East and Gulf Coast ports appears to have been averted (Associated Press, subscription).  
  
What’s going on: On Wednesday, “[t]he International Longshoremen’s Association union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance of ports and shipping companies said they had reached a tentative agreement for a six-year contract, a week ahead of a Jan. 15 deadline.”

• Details of the agreement between the two sides—which resumed negotiations Tuesday after a several-month suspension of a strike in the fall—were not made public. 
• In October, a three-day work stoppage at East and Gulf Coast ports was resolved temporarily until Jan. 15 with a tentative labor agreement between the ILA, the dockworkers’ union, and USMX, which represents the port terminals and shipping industry.
• The sticking point in the talks had been the use of automation at ports.   

Why it’s important: “A strike would have shut down ports along the East and Gulf coasts and would have begun damaging the economy if it lasted much more than a week, economists said.” 
 
What we’ve been doing: The NAM—which yesterday urged a swift resolution to the talks—has been at the forefront of industry response to the situation and has remained closely involved in both the outgoing and incoming administrations’ efforts to maintain operations at these crucial points of entry.

• In addition, the NAM has had an enormous influence on public perception and policymakers’ understanding of this high-stakes conflict, thanks to its widely cited research into the economic impact of port closures.