# US Ports Reopen as ILA and USMX Extend Master Contract and Negotiations to January
Author: Alex Lennane October 4, 2024
Under possible White House influence, USMX and ILA have temporarily ended the strike, with ports reopening today.
In a joint announcement last night, they stated that they had reached “a temporary agreement on wages” and extended the current master contract until January 15, five days before the new U.S. President takes office.
The parties indicated in their statement that they would “return to the negotiating table to discuss all other unresolved issues. Effective immediately, all ongoing work actions will cease, and all work covered by the master contract will resume.”
It is reported that the new terms will provide ILA members with a 62% wage increase over six years. Automation levels still need to be agreed upon and may remain contentious.
According to Scan Global Logistics, as of this morning, at least 50 container ships are anchored offshore but will begin docking in sequence of arrival.
Scan stated that “backlogs and subsequent congestion are expected to impact until the end of the month.”
It added that carriers who have declared force majeure “do not include specific plans for in-transit or en route cargo, but will provide tagging and verification operations when deciding to terminate goods at alternative discharge locations.”
Scan Global is working with carriers on affected shipments, aiming “to deliver all bookings to their original final destinations.”
With the contract now set to expire in January, market uncertainty remains—though this follows a typically less busy pre-Christmas peak season. The new date also offers more political ease for addressing any challenges under the newly elected President.
New data from Vizion API shows that as of last night, companies most affected are those with containers stranded at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports. Walmart has 837.2 TEUs in port with an average detention time exceeding ten days. Kuehne + Nagel is second-most impacted with 323 TEUs, averaging over sixteen days.
DHL Global Forwarding has only 293 TEUs but averages a detention period of thirty-seven days. Despite fewer affected containers, some shippers have longer detention times: Adidas at forty-five days, Kerry Apex at forty-nine days, Riviana Foods at forty-eight days, and Flexport with just seventy-nine TEUs averaging forty-one days.
Savannah leads in port container numbers with 8,971 TEUs, followed by New York with 3,901 and Houston with 2,401.
Meanwhile, the Port of Montreal has reopened following a three-day union action. The Maritime Employers Association said they would meet with unions at 11 AM today, mediated by Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services.
“We hope to reach a long-term agreement that considers reality so we can work together to bring stability and cargo back to Montreal.”
They added: “To avoid interfering with the mediation process, no further information will be provided.”
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Source Website: The Loadstar
