The union representing dockworkers in Baltimore and other U.S. ports is set to return to the bargaining table with maritime employers next month, part of an arrangement reached after a three-day strike was suspended on Oct. 3.
The International Longshoremen’s Association and the group representing port operators and shipping companies said Friday that they will resume contract discussions in November and work toward an agreement. The two sides earlier this month suspended a walkout of 45,000 longshoremen at East and Gulf Coast ports, including the Port of Baltimore, until Jan. 15.
The longshoremen had reached a tentative agreement on wages with the U.S. Maritime Alliance. But that’s contingent on bargaining on other issues, including improved working conditions and protection from automation. A person briefed on the tentative agreement had said the ports raised their wage offer from about 50% over six years to 62%.
Negotiating committees will meet in New Jersey to work toward terms of a new contract proposal that would then be presented to the full ILA Wage Scale Committee for approval, then later to workers for ratification, a statement from the ILA and the employers said.
“The ILA and USMX welcome the opportunity to return to the bargaining table and get a new agreement in place as soon as possible,” the statement said.
The ILA represents about 2,400 workers in Baltimore’s port.
The first widespread longshoremen’s strike in almost five decades began Oct. 1.
Dockworkers began walking picket lines outside the main gates at Dundalk and Seagirt marine terminals in southeast Baltimore, effectively shutting down Baltimore’s port for the second time this year after the shipping accident that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge and blocked the channel for two months.
The decision to suspend the strike eased fears that a work stoppage of even more than a few days at 36 eastern U.S. ports could lead to lengthy delays and shortages of consumer goods and raw materials for factories.
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