The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) announced they reached tentative agreement on a six-year Master Contract, subject to ratification by ILA members at ports from Maine to Texas and by the USMX membership.  The current USMX-ILA Contract expires on September 30, 2018.

“We have reached a tentative agreement on a six-year Master contract that is beneficial to both sides,” said Harold J. Daggett, ILA President and David F. Adam, Chairman of USMX.

The 2015 dispute during negotiations threatened supply chain continuity for countless U.S. agricultural commodities, causing extreme congestion, delays and uncertainty, in addition to costing the agriculture industry millions of dollars for every week that the negotiations lasted.

Some 200 ILA Wage Scale delegates unanimously approved the terms of the new agreement, following two-days of Master Contract negotiations in Delray Beach, Florida.  The agreement culminates months of tough negotiations between the ILA and USMX. Both sides hailed the agreement that was reached months ahead of the expiration of the current pact.

The two sides encouraged local ILA and management groups to finalize local agreements by July 10, 2018, prior to full membership ratification votes by the ILA rank-and-file members and USMX.

Related:Port union to meet with West Coast employers

Details of the tentative Master Contract agreement were not made available.

The American Soybean Assn. (ASA) said it has followed this issue, as contract extensions provide supply chain stakeholders with the certainty they need to run their operations.