SHIPPING: ILA committee approves deal with US ports; full membership to vote on 25 Feb

HOUSTON (ICIS)–The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) wage scale committee voted unanimously to approve the tentative agreement between the union and US Gulf and East Coast ports, setting up a vote by the full membership later this month.

An ILA strike was averted in January when a tentative deal was reached between the two parties with both sides agreeing to work under the existing pact while awaiting the ILA’s full wage scale committee and the scheduling of a ratification vote from the full membership.

The wage scale committee consists of more than 200 ILA union locals from Maine to Texas.

The new agreement and all its benefits are retroactive to 1 October 2024, and, if ratified by ILA members, will be in effect until 30 September 2030.

ILA rank-and-file members will receive details of the agreement approved by the wage scale committee at local meetings over the next two weeks and then participate in the ratification vote on 25 February.

The specific details of the agreement will not be made public.

The two sides agreed on the financial part of the deal in early October, ending a three-day strike, with commitments to continue negotiating on other issues, specifically automation and semi-automation at ports, which the union opposed because of the threat of losing jobs previously done by humans.

The labor issue would have had no impact on liquid chemical tanker traffic in and out of ports as they typically serve private terminals and do not require the same labor as container ships.

Container ships and costs for shipping containers are relevant to the chemical industry because while most chemicals are liquids and are shipped in tankers, container ships transport polymers, such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), are shipped in pellets.

They also transport liquid chemicals in isotanks.