Workers picket outside of the APM container terminal at the Port of Newark in Newark, US, 1 October 2024. Credit: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Striking US port workers have reached a “tentative agreement” on wages and have suspended their industrial action affecting more than 30 ports in the country.

The details of the deal reached yesterday evening (3 October) have yet to be disclosed. The workers’ master contract has been extended until 15 January 2025 while both parties return to the bargaining table over “outstanding issues”.

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Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) downed tools on Tuesday (1 October) in protest over low wages and the threat of automation.  

The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) – the negotiating body for container carriers and port associations – said it had offered workers a “nearly 50% wage” increase. However, workers’ representatives rejected the offer, arguing it failed to address wages and the stevedores’ opposition to job losses through automation.

The industrial action lasted for three days and saw container ship processing stalled at ports from Maine down to Texas.

Speaking to Just Drinks just before the strike suspension, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) CEO Chris Swonger said: “The cost of a strike could be significant for the spirits sector.

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“We’ve been told that a one-day strike could take a week to get back to normal operations, and a one-week strike could create a four-to-six-week backlog. That’s putting us in right against our top selling season for the holidays.”

Last year, US distillers exported 77% of their products, with 43% of that shifted through the ports that were impacted by the strike. Additionally, roughly 40% of the distilled spirits consumed in the US in 2023 were imported, according to DISCUS.

For businesses importing into the US, a major spirit player told Just Drinks it had established ‘alternative routes’ to get product to the country if needed. The company said it was normal business practice to have inventory levels in place to mitigate supply chain disruptions.

DISCUS and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) co-signed an open letter to the US federal government on Wednesday calling on Washington to step in and end the strike amid fears of “severe economic consequences” if it were to continue.