After a three-day strike that virtually shut down operations at one of the East Coast’s largest ports, longshore workers at the Port of Baltimore
went back to work – temporarily, at least – on Oct. 18.
On Oct. 17 members of International Longshoremen’s
Association (ILA) Local 333 agreed to return to their jobs for 90 days while
the union continues contract negotiations with the Steamship Trade Association
of Baltimore, which represents local shipping lines.
The strike was approved by union leadership the night of
Oct. 15, after Local 333 members overwhelmingly rejected a contract covering
local issues such as workplace safety. Starting the next morning, longshore
workers began picketing shipping terminals.
At the time the strike was called, five cargo ships were
docked at Baltimore, according to the port. At least one ship – the CCNI
Antofagasta – left Baltimore without unloading any cargo. It instead
sailed to the Port of Charleston in South Carolina.
The ILA is the largest union of maritime workers in North
America, representing more than 65,000 longshore workers on the Atlantic and
Gulf Coasts, Great Lakes, major US rivers, Puerto Rico and Eastern Canada.
The four ILA locals in Baltimore represent about 1,200
dockworkers. Although only Local 333 was on strike, the three other ILA locals
representing Port of Maryland workers would not cross the picket line, meaning
all the port’s longshore workers – roughly 2,000 of the port’s 14,000 employees
– refused to work.
Negotiations between the union and management group are
ongoing.
