With just one month left on the master contract for the International Lonshoremen’s Association, the American Apparel & Footware Association is calling on the union to resume the negotiations now that it has received the support of Donald Trump. Yesterday, December 12, President-elect Donald Trump issued a strongly worded support of the ILA in its rejection of port automation and warned “foreign companies” to respect the dockworkers.
"We welcome President-elect Trump's commitment to strengthening United States ports and appreciate his efforts to meet with the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) President Harold Daggett and Executive Vice President Dennis Daggett. This is a crucial time for the Longshoremen and the employers to negotiate a fair and equitable labor contract with the United States Maritime Alliance,” said Steve Lamar, president and CEO of the association.
The apparel industry group highlights that a disruption to the East and Gulf Coast ports from a labor strike could reduce U.S. economic activity by $4.5 billion to $7.5 billion per week. It points out that the three-day strike in October 2024 caused backlogs that lasted over a month.
The East and Gulf Coast ports are used to import the majority of apparel, footwear, and travel goods. In addition, it points out that many other crucial goods are exported and imported through the ports, from life-saving pharmaceuticals to hearty American-grown produce. “No one wants to see fresh food produced by hardworking American farmers rot on the docks, as they wait to be exported during a strike,” said Lamar.
"We look forward to President-elect Trump's continued leadership on the East and Gulf Coast port labor negotiations to get a deal done before January 15, so we avoid a major disruption to the American economy ahead of his inauguration on January 20,” said Lamar. The statement urges the ILA to formally return to the negotiating table to finalize a contract with USMX.
The ILA’s Executive Vice President Dennis Dagget issued a statement today saying that Trump “truly understand the importance of the work our members do every single day…. He was not just attentive to our concerns; he was receptive and genuinely engaged in a discussion about the existential threat automation poses…”
Last week, a collation of over 250 trade associations from across the United States issued a letter to the ILA and USMX saying it was imperative for the parties to resume negotiations and remain at the table until a new contract is reached. They stated that they understood the biggest issue of disagreement is automation and technology while saying it is critical that ports and terminals have the ability to modernize to remain globally competitive. They took a position that modernization will benefit everyone but would require partnership and that the issues would only be resolved by returning to the negotiations.
The apparel association writes in its statement that it “feels that semi-automation is vital to ensure efficient and safe U.S. ports, attract new investments, create new U.S. longshoremen jobs, and grow the U.S. economy.”
