It seems a tentative agreement was reached, and thus the ILA Longshoremen’s union has ended their tone-deaf strike, for now.

Striking dockworkers agreed to go back to work Thursday evening after reaching a tentative agreement with port operators on Thursday for a 62 percent wage increase that extends the current contract through Jan. 15, for more time to bargain over remaining issues.
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The deal, coming on day three of the strike, will spare the U.S. economy from the worst of the disruptions the work stoppage could have caused. It also takes a difficult issue for the Biden administration out of play less than five weeks before the presidential election, in which the White House’s stewardship of the economy is a key issue.

“Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume,” the parties said in a joint statement announcing the agreement.

So, they shut down ports from Maine to New Orleans and Houston over money beefs and a refusal to even consider putting some type of automation on the docks. We have Harold Daggett bragging about crippling the economy while enjoying a salary of $1 million a year. 

What this strike led to is a lot of VERY PISSED OFF PEOPLE. Myself included. Not one single one of those dock workers or their union bosses could take a minute to think of what this was going to do to a national psyche already damaged from the lockdown madness. 

Panic buying spreads accross the country from fear of store shortages potentially being caused by dock workers strike.

Toilet paper, water & meat are the hot ticket items even though they are all sourced domestically.

People have been traumatized.#dockstrike pic.twitter.com/ExhnWI6Lnr

— Tom Graham (@tom2badcat24) October 3, 2024

It doesn’t matter that those items are manufactured here in the US, what Americans saw is people refusing to move important goods to their communities. And you have the union bosses wondering why people aren’t on their side?

Sources close to the union told gCaptain early this morning that the vitrol came as a shock to union leaders who were discussing backing down and taking the United States Maritime Alliance’s (USMX) latest deal.

“We could not imagine the hate and threats of violence against him and other top ILA leaders as attempts to end the current two-day strike helping his ILA membership navigate the first coastwide work stoppage in almost half a century,” said the ILA in a message sent to gCaptain. “Harold is sickened by these attempts to his attack his professional accomplishments as a union leader, and destroy the life he has built for him and his family in over many decades of toil and hard work.”

Yes, it’s true, the maritime companies involved have built their companies into highly successful world wide shipping endeavors and with that, they’ve gotten rich transporting goods and services all over the world. Even in precarious conditions such as hurricanes, or terrorist attacks. 

The other POV: Houthi kamikaze boat attack on British oil tanker Cordelia Moon. https://t.co/ZQKPIRbQbp pic.twitter.com/bn1to9n0Np

— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 3, 2024

Yet the ILA union is ALSO at fault for refusing in June to continue negotiations. Daggett’s almost GLEEFUL comments about crippling the economy sparked the backlash. 

Holding companies hostage is one thing – holding a whole country hostage is another.

In a functioning system, this would prompt congressional hearings with an eye toward legislation. In a functioning system… https://t.co/M8Ho9o4g29

— Martin Skold (@MartinSkold2) October 3, 2024

The death threats on him and others are way and I mean WAY out of line! 

That said, this agreement is only in place until January 15th, 2025. Which means, if the union doesn’t get its way, we could see yet another strike. 

The ports were down for THREE DAYS. That means that all goods that were sitting on the docks went nowhere. That means that cargo ships were stuck idling in the ocean. Given the fact that none of the docks are automated in any way shape or form, this means that we are looking at 3-8 days of backlog before the docks are caught up again. That ALSO hurts the economy! 

Someone else wasn’t a fan of the strike. 

And, isn’t it so very interesting that just a few hours later, the strike is done? It was a bold and very necessary move by Governor DeSantis. No one else was doing anything. Joe and Kamala were pandering and Mayor Pete was AWOL once again. And the longshoremen had egg on their face. 

Now, the strike is off. For now. A word to the wise for the union, next time….READ THE ROOM.

Feature Photo Credit: Cargo, ports, containers via iStock, cropped and modified