Photo: Jared Brosnan/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Roughly 160 dock workers in Boston’s Seaport district went on strike when the clock struck midnight on Tuesday.
The Boston chapter of the International Longshoreman Association (ILA) went to the picket line after bargaining sessions with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) were to no avail.
Employees of the Conley Containment Terminal in Seaport are representative of a much larger movement, as dozens of ports along the east and gulf coasts have shut down, from Maine to Texas.
Read More: Brookline Launches Food Waste Drop Off Pilot Program
USMX which represents the ILA, said that their most recent offer included wage increases, strengthening healthcare options, and tripling employer contributions to employee retirement plans.
In a statement, the ILA called the business practices of foreign owned shipping companies “disgraceful” and added that the workers have been “crippled by inflation due to USMX’s unfair wage packages.”
The union strike is the first to shut down the supply chain since 1977, and businesses are already anticipating supply disruptions and an increase in prices for consumers.
In a statement, the union said the proposed wage package was unacceptable, while the USMX claimed that their most recent offer would increase wages by nearly 50 percent.
J.P. Morgan has estimated that this strike could cost the economy as much as $4.5 billion per day.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Jared Brosnan reports.
Follow WBZ NewsRadio: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | iHeartmedia App | TikTok