2 weeks Ago
Workers move shipping containers at Eimskip in Portland on Jan. 4. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer As 45,000 dockworkers took to picket lines Tuesday elsewhere along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico, it was unclear how the strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association might affect the Port of Portland.
Union leaders said, and national news agencies reported, that longshoremen would be protesting from Maine to Texas. However, no one was picketing Tuesday outside Eimskip, Portland’s only shipping container carrier. It has a separate contract with the association’s local unit and isn’t a party to contract talks that have broken down with the longshoremen’s union.
The association launched its first strike in nearly 50 years after its six-year agreement with United States Maritime Alliance Ltd. (USMX) ran out Monday. The action against the alliance, which includes container carriers, port associations and marine terminal operators across more than 30 ports, threatens widespread product shortages and price increases if it lasts more than a few weeks.
Maine businesses are monitoring the situation but haven’t reported issues with receiving items. Talks between the union and USMX began in 2022. Major sticking points include wages and automation that eliminates jobs.
The so-called master agreement would cover all ports from Maine to Texas where USMX carriers and subscribers may call, union leaders said. But the alliance doesn’t include Iceland-based Eimskip, the only container carrier operating out of Maine’s largest port. The company recently began negotiating a separate agreement with the 50-member Portland Local 861, whose current contract runs through Nov.
30. Before the strike, Jack Humeniuk, a regional union representative, said negotiations between Eimskip and the local were “going fine” and he predicted that a strike would have little impact on the Port of Portland. “We’re not expecting any problems,” he said.
But on Tuesday, both Humeniuk and Jim McNamara, the international union’s top spokesman, refused to answer questions about the strike’s potential effect on Portland or other Maine ports. Specifically, they wouldn’t say whether longshoremen in Portland were part of the strike or not. They also wouldn’t say whether Portland longshoremen would welcome and unload USMX ships or cargo that might be diverted to Portland.
Longshoremen in Portland operate cranes and lift trucks for Eimskip and load and unload freight for cruise ships. Chelsea Pettengill, interim executive director of the Maine Port Authority, said Tuesday that the agency is monitoring the situation but not preparing for the strike to impact Portland. “Right now we have no cause for concern about the Port of Portland,” she said.
EIMSKIP’S LOCAL AGREEMENT Before the strike, Nathaniel Shehata, vice president of Liner Services at Eimskip, said in an email that employees at the Portland International Marine Terminal “will continue to provide a wide array of services to the customers that have supported our operation for the past 11 years in Portland and have made it the easternmost container port in the U.S.” Asked why Eimskip is not part of the master agreement, Shehata said Eimskip and union members have “jumped at the opportunity” to work together.
As a result, volumes and productivity have grown, he said. Humeniuk said Eimskip does not have a worldwide presence, but instead established a niche market in northern Europe and the U.S.
Operations expanded in Portland, leading Eimskip to commit for the long term, he said. It does not call on other ports in the U.S.
and did not sign on to the national master agreement, he said. The International Marine Terminal ended 2023 with about 44,000 20-foot-equivalent shipping containers crossing the dock, a record. But it was only about a 1.
5% increase from the previous year, down sharply from the approximately 25% annual growth since 2013, when Eimskip began calling on Portland. Burns said at the time the market returned to normal in 2023 following a pandemic-driven boom in the shipping industry. BUSINESSES KEEP WATCH Maine businesses that receive products at ports south of Portland are paying attention to negotiations between shippers and the ILA, said Patrick Woodcock, president and chief executive officer of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce.
“Anytime you see a potential strike like this looming at some point everyone becomes exposed to the scale of that collapse of the lifeblood of the U.S. transportation system,” he said.
L.L.Bean spokesperson Jason Sulham said the Freeport-based retailer is “monitoring the situation” but offered no details.
Shipping containers carry most consumer goods found online and in stores, such as clothing, electronics and toys. The strike could snarl supply chains that were damaged during the pandemic, contributing to inflation that became a political weapon against President Biden and would likely be a sharp issue in the presidential and congressional campaigns just five weeks after the Sept. 30 expiration of the labor agreements.
A work stoppage also could add to troubles for shipping attacked by Houthi rebels operating in the Red Sea. Business groups have been urging the Biden administration to intervene and bring shippers and the ILA together. The ILA said its latest proposal would provide “industry-leading wage increases, boost employer retirement contributions, offer new employees higher starting wages, raise employer contributions to local benefits and continue to provide premier health care coverage.
” It did not provide details. With automation a major concern among workers, USMX said it keeps current contract language that established a framework for how to “modernize and improve efficiency while protecting jobs and hours, a priority for our members and the ILA.” Humeniuk said automation is the biggest issue in negotiations between the ILA and USMX.
“The wages and benefits are good,” he said. “The real issue is being automated out of a job.” We invite you to add your comments.
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