Americas News
Incoming Trump Administration Strikes Conciliatory Tone on Port Worker Negotiations
President Trump has struck a conciliatory tone in public comments on union demands for workers at US ports ahead of a mid-January deadline to set a new contract.
Some 45,000 International Longshoremen's Association workers at 36 ports from Maine to Texas briefly went on strike over contract negotiations in October, before agreeing to extend the life of the previous contract until January 15.
The incoming Trump Administration has signalled a degree of sympathy with the ILA's aims in the negotiations, in particular on their objections to the use of automation at US ports.
"I've studied automation, and know just about everything there is to know about it," President Trump said in a social media post last week.
"The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt and harm it causes for American workers.
"Foreign companies have made a fortune in the US by giving them access to our markets.
"They've got record profits, and I'd rather these foreign companies spend it on the great men and women on our docks than on machinery."
Trump met with ILA representatives last week. He will return to the White House on January 20, five days after the contract deadline passes.
The strike in October was the first of its scale by US port workers since 1977, and a more extended version of it in January would be likely to have a significant impact on US freight and bunker markets.
