President Biden called for striking port workers to get an increase in wages, hours after tens of thousands of longshoremen at ports along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico walked off the job.
The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) and the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) failed to reach an agreement by the midnight deadline, leading to the first strike by the port workers’ union in nearly 50 years.
Biden, in a statement, said he has urged USMX to come to the table and present a fair offer to the workers that ensures they are paid appropriately.
“Ocean carriers have made record profits since the pandemic and in some cases profits grew in excess of 800 percent compared to their profits prior to the pandemic. Executive compensation has grown in line with those profits and profits have been returned to shareholders at record rates,” Biden said. “It’s only fair that workers, who put themselves at risk during the pandemic to keep ports open, see a meaningful increase in their wages as well.”
The union has demanded wage increases and a total ban on the automation of cranes, gates and container-moving trucks, and the USMX said Monday evening that it had “traded counteroffers related to wages” with the ILA.
Biden also noted that in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, dockworkers will play an essential role in getting communities resources, adding, “now is not the time for ocean carriers to refuse to negotiate a fair wage for these essential workers while raking in record profits.”
He stressed that longshoreman have made a “substantial contribution” to the U.S. economy’s comeback, reiterating his call for USMX to negotiate a fair contract for them.