The International Longshoreman's Association (ILA) strike that halted trade at East and Gulf Coast ports in the U.S. this week has been put on hold after the union agreed to a 62% raise for the 45,000 dockworkers under its tentative agreement with the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents the port employers.
Under the previous contract that expired on Monday, ILA dockworkers' starting wage was at $20 per hour and topped out at $39 per hour (or more than $81,000 annually) for employees with six or more years of service, but overtime and royalty pay earned by workers push their typical take-home pay much higher.
According to internal USMX documents viewed by FOX Business, the average full-time ILA dockworker in New York/New Jersey under the previous contract made $350,000 per year, and in Norfolk, Virginia, they made an average of $200,000.
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ILA members in Savannah, Georgia, averaged $180,000, while those in Houston, Texas, and Charleston, South Carolina, made an average of $170,000, respectively.
ILA President Harold Daggett, who is the union's lead negotiator for the new contract, made more than $900,000 last year between his combined $728,000 salary from the ILA and another $173,000 from ILA Local 1804-1 in North Bergen, New Jersey, according to Department of Labor filings.
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The strike began Tuesday after the ILA rejected USMX's earlier offer of a 50% pay raise over the life of the next six-year contract, but the work stoppage came to an end late Thursday after the two sides reached the tentative agreement for a 62% pay boost.
Patrick Anderson, CEO and principal of Anderson Economic Group, which estimates the economic impact of strikes, told FOX Business the ILA's deal paid off for the union members.
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"The short ILA strike…will surely be ranked as one of the most lucrative 3 days in labor-management history," Anderson said. "The ILA workers have apparently gained 60% wage increases after giving up 3 days of work in a strike that inflicted no serious damage on the US economy."
