Harold Daggett, International President of the International Longshoremen’s Association speaks to about 500 dockworkers Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at Maher Terminals in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Members of the ILA went on strike from Texas to Maine after the union failed to reach a new contract agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance over wages and automation. Tens of thousands of workers on strike could snarl supply chains, just a month ahead of the U.S. presidential election. (Photo by Mark J. Bonamo for New Jersey Monitor/States Newsroom)
CHARLESTON — After failing to reach a final-hour agreement, some 45,000 members of the International Longshoreman Association went on strike Tuesday, shutting down 36 seaports from Maine to Texas, including in Charleston.
Union members set up picket lines at three S.C. State Ports Authority shipping terminals just after midnight, according to Charles Brave, president of International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1422.
The strike marks the first in almost 50 years for the East Coast union workers who load and unload cargo from container ships. That 1977 strike lasted more than six weeks and ended in a deal for raises, increased pension contributions and provisions addressing automation new at that time.