The strike between the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) and the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) has essentially come to an end.
A communique sent out by Scan Global Logistics said dockworkers were expected to return to work as early as today, Friday, October 4.
According to Bloomberg, the ILA and USMX have agreed to a contract extension until January 15 while they continue negotiating terms of a six-year deal.
The news service quotes US President Joe Biden saying on Thursday: “Today’s tentative agreement on a record wage and an extension of the collective bargaining process represents critical progress towards a strong contract.”
He added: “By the grace of God and goodwill of neighbours, it’s going to hold.”
Scan Global global head of ocean freight, Daniel Cacciotti, reports that the ILA, representing over 45 000 striking dockworkers, has agreed to a deal to suspend strike activity until January 15.
“It is expected that this extension will allow the USMX and ILA an opportunity to negotiate and ratify a new agreement without overhanging labour disruptions.
“Ports previously on strike handle approximately 56% of containerised imports and 68% of containerised exports to and from the US.”
It is understood that at least 50 containerships have been recorded as being anchored at offshore locations, unable to berth at any of the three dozen ports affected by the ILA strike.
Beginning today, these vessels would begin to berth in the order they arrived, Cacciotti said.
The backlog and subsequent congestion are expected to be a factor for at least the remainder of the month.
Several carriers, including CMA CGM, Ocean Network Express, and HMM have declared force majeure.
“This announcement does not include defined plans for cargo en route or in transit but placemarks and validates the action should the decision to terminate cargo at alternate discharge locations be reached.
“We are working closely with carrier lines on possibly affected cargo with the intent to have all bookings completed to their original final destination.
“We thank you for your patience and understanding of the situation, and we will keep in close dialogue with you.
“If you have any immediate concerns or require additional information, please contact your sales representative or any member of our ocean product team,” Cacciotti said.
