ILA, port employers sign historic 6-year contract

The International Longshoremen’s Association and United States Maritime Alliance signed a new six-year master contract covering U.S. Eastern Seaboard and Gulf Coast ports.

The deal, which gives union members a 62% raise over the course of the contract and job protections linked to automation technology, is retroactive to Oct. 1, 2024, and runs through Sept. 30, 2030. The pact covers 24,000 employees in container handling at 14 ports from Texas to Massachusetts.

ILA International President Harold Daggett, who served as the union’s chief negotiator, celebrated the deal as the best package ever secured for members. It also includes accelerated wage raises for new workers, ensures the return of full container royalty funds to the ILA and enhances the union’s national health care program.

“I am proud to have produced this new agreement with the help of my ILA Wage Scale Committee for my ILA members,” Daggett said in a release marking the signing ceremony in North Bergen, New Jersey. He expressed gratitude to the terminal operators and ocean carriers represented by USMX for recognizing the contributions of ILA members in building and growing the industry.