‘Victory for working people:’ Local dock workers celebrate end of strike

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Dock workers are celebrating a victory today, after being on strike for several days.

Late Thursday, the International Longshoreman’s Association reached an agreement, ending a work stoppage at ports up and down the East Coast.

The SSA Marine terminal in JAXPORT on Blount Island has been shut down for three days. But today, it has reopened, and dock workers are returning to work.

“It’s one thing to fight for something, it’s another thing to get it,” ILA 1408 Jacksonville President Warren Smith.

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Smith said says union members were demanding better wages and protection against automation on the docks.

And that’s exactly what they got, after three days spent striking and picketing,

“I was not surprised because of what we actually contribute to America’s economy and what we contribute to the world,” Smith said.

He said the agreement reached will amount to a roughly 60-percent raise over six years. The dockworkers also secured protection from automation – preventing the loss of jobs to robots.

“We were so far behind the industry curve because inflation hit us like it did everyone else,” Smith said. “This wasn’t just a victory for Longshoremen, this was a victory for working people everyone.”

Now, the “master agreement” that was in place is extended until January 15th, while both sides negotiate the final terms of a new contract. Then, it will go to the union membership for a vote.

“We were kind of at the mercy of the people at the table,” Air Van Inc. President and CEO Ike Sherlock said.

Air Van Inc. Is a logistics company in Jacksonville that deals with trucking and delivery services.

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Sherlock said this strike never had a chance to impact our shelves, because it was resolved so quickly.

But while the consumer wasn’t affected, he said the supply chain business was.

“Even a one-day disruption can really kink the chain,” Sherlock said. “I think we all remember getting out of the pandemic, how long it took for the supply chain to settle and reconfigure.”

Sherlock said his clients along the East Coast moved freights to West Coast destinations, kind of planning for the worst.

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The JAXPORT spokesperson told Action News Jax JAXPORT was never a part of the negotiations. But the ocean carriers and terminal operators that use JAXPORT and hire ILA labor, were.

This includes SSA Marine – which reopened Friday afternoon.

Next week, JAXPORT is expected to be very busy.

“We’ll be doing basically next week’s work plus three days that we missed,” Sherlock said. “It’ll rebound pretty quickly because it was a quick resolution.”

The SSA Operations at Dames Point is expected to reopen Monday at 8 a.m.

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