We have welcome news from the East and Gulf Coast labor talks! Wednesday evening, January 8th, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) jointly announced that they had reached a tentative agreement, purportedly ending their months-long contract dispute. Affecting several major US ports from Maine to Texas, this agreement appears to have finally averted the strike risk posed by the extended January 15th negotiation deadline.
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The agreement, reportedly covering the next six years, comes after formal talks between the two parties had resumed on January 7th, and will provide shippers, ownership, and project managers across the globe welcome relief from further disruptions. Further, we should also expect to see eases in global ocean freight rates, as shippers anticipating potential disruption start to return to normal routing plans.
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As we saw back in early October, even a short-term disruption to the flow of trade into and out of the sea ports affected by these talks could have long-ranging affects. This tentative agreement -- still subject to ratification processes -- would avoid a host of worst-case scenarios, and precludes any immediate delays or impacts on ocean freight.
If you have any questions about how this news would affect your projects or container shipments, please reach out to your freight manager