Solidarity with ILA on Strike!

Photo via @ila_education_history on Instagram. 

45,000 workers at ports across the East Coast are on strike with the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) after their contract expired on September 30. 

Contract talks broke down over workers’ demands for major wage increases and job protections from automation. Their slogans on the picket line have included “Fight automation, save jobs,” and “Profit over people is unacceptable.” 

Strikes in the logistics industry have ripple effects across the entire economy. As workers shut down ports from Maine to Texas for the first time since 1977, work stoppages could cost the economy between $3.8 billion and $4.5 billion per day, according to AP. 

President Joe Biden has said he will not intervene, citing the rights of workers to collective bargaining. Instead, he has called on USMX to return to the bargaining table and give workers a fair contract. 

As workers turn to the power of the strike to win the contract they deserve, it underscores EW4D’s demand for the labor movement to invest in strike funds and boost organizing for strike-readiness. To learn more about our four pillars of worker power, click here.