THE International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) representing dockers on the US east and Gulf coasts said that its members would strike October 1 if a new contract was not in place, reports Heavy Lift and Project Forwarding International, of Keston, Kent.
The union contract is scheduled to expire on September 30 and the ila said that an October 1 strike could follow.
On September 4-5, the ILA conducted wage scale meetings that concluded with unanimous support for a coastwide strike.
ILA executive vice president Dennis Daggett laid out the union's strike plan: 'We must be prepared if we have to hit the streets at 12:01 am Tuesday, October 1.'
On August 14, Sea-Intelligence issued a release stating that the impact on container shipments would be significant.
'Using historical data, we estimate US east coast handling volumes of 2.3 million TEU in October, which translates into 74,000 TEU per day, split 36,000 on imports and 38,000 on exports. For empties alone, a strike would mean the inability to load 20,000 TEU each day,' it reported.
Shippers have been quick to get their goods to/from the market ahead of September 30, something that may account for what has been reported to be a buoyant summer season, contrary to the annual summer slowdown.
From a project logistics standpoint, the impact of such a strike is very much cargo specific. Smaller items that can be easily shifted to other modes would benefit from being moved to/from the west coast. For larger cargoes, that might not be possible.
Protestations from the ILA related to the new auto gates not requiring unionised labour, specifically longshore checkers, which the organisation claims breach its agreement with the USMX.
ILA president Harold Daggett described introducing the new technology as having 'the sole aim of eliminating ILA jobs through automation.'
The union also noted an increase in IT personnel at marine terminals, raising concerns that APM Terminals and Maersk's IT departments are encroaching on ILA's jurisdiction. It is was conducting an audit to assess the impact of these technologies on other jobs at marine terminals, with results pending.
SeaNews Turkey
The union contract is scheduled to expire on September 30 and the ila said that an October 1 strike could follow.
On September 4-5, the ILA conducted wage scale meetings that concluded with unanimous support for a coastwide strike.
ILA executive vice president Dennis Daggett laid out the union's strike plan: 'We must be prepared if we have to hit the streets at 12:01 am Tuesday, October 1.'
On August 14, Sea-Intelligence issued a release stating that the impact on container shipments would be significant.
'Using historical data, we estimate US east coast handling volumes of 2.3 million TEU in October, which translates into 74,000 TEU per day, split 36,000 on imports and 38,000 on exports. For empties alone, a strike would mean the inability to load 20,000 TEU each day,' it reported.
Shippers have been quick to get their goods to/from the market ahead of September 30, something that may account for what has been reported to be a buoyant summer season, contrary to the annual summer slowdown.
From a project logistics standpoint, the impact of such a strike is very much cargo specific. Smaller items that can be easily shifted to other modes would benefit from being moved to/from the west coast. For larger cargoes, that might not be possible.
Protestations from the ILA related to the new auto gates not requiring unionised labour, specifically longshore checkers, which the organisation claims breach its agreement with the USMX.
ILA president Harold Daggett described introducing the new technology as having 'the sole aim of eliminating ILA jobs through automation.'
The union also noted an increase in IT personnel at marine terminals, raising concerns that APM Terminals and Maersk's IT departments are encroaching on ILA's jurisdiction. It is was conducting an audit to assess the impact of these technologies on other jobs at marine terminals, with results pending.
SeaNews Turkey
