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Dockworker union strategy could guide future labor

negotiations

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Pro-labor lawyers warn Trump's record favors businesses

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ILA leaders praise Trump for supporting anti-automation

stance

By Lisa Baertlein, Daniel Wiessner

LOS ANGELES, Jan 9 (Reuters) - A tentative labor deal

forestalled potentially damaging trade disruptions at

three-dozen U.S. East Coast and Gulf of Mexico ports, with both

sides in the talks crediting President-elect Donald Trump for

clearing the way for them to hammer out a deal on automation.

The success of the International Longshoremen's Association in

winning Trump's support for its anti-automation battle could be

instructive for unions facing contract renewals during his term,

including the United Auto Workers, UPS Teamsters and the U.S.

West Coast's International Longshore & Warehouse Union.

The deal, announced on Wednesday night, must be ratified by some

45,000 members of ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance

(USMX) employer group.

"This is a six-year détente in the tech-versus-labor

tug-of-war at U.S. ports," said Judah Levine, head of research

at Freightos ( CRGO ), a freight-booking and payments platform.

It landed days before an extended Jan. 15 deadline, averting

a second strike that could have put a huge dent in the economy

at the start of Trump's second term on Jan. 20.

Father-and-son ILA leaders Harold and Dennis Daggett late on

Wednesday called Trump a hero to the union and gave him "full

credit" for the resolution of talks.

They pointed to a Truth Social post in mid-December, where Trump

appeared to side with the union's struggle against "foreign"

employers after meeting with those ILA leaders.

"I've studied automation and know just about everything

there is to know about it. The amount of money saved is nowhere

near the distress, hurt and harm it causes for American Workers,

in this case, our Longshoremen," Trump wrote.

The employer group, which includes Maersk's APM

Terminals and the U.S. arms of major container carriers such as

China's COSCO Shipping, said the agreement came

"thanks in large part to President Trump's leadership."

The ILA and USMX extended their bargaining deadline after a

deadlock over automation sparked a three-day strike in October

at major ports including New York and New Jersey, Houston and

Savannah, Georgia.

President Joe Biden played a vital role in helping workers win a

62% raise over six years, which ended the October strike.

Biden praised both the union and employers for reaching a

tentative deal on Wednesday. Trump has not commented on Truth

Social and his transition team did not immediately comment.

One pro-labor attorney cautioned against interpreting

Trump's post on automation as union support, saying that it was

in keeping with his pugilistic approach to international

policies.

"It supports his narrative of going after foreigners," said

Cathy Creighton, an attorney and director of Cornell

University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations in

Buffalo.

SEEING THE FUTURE?

In a prescient move, Teamsters President Sean O'Brien - who

negotiated the last contract for members at United Parcel

Service ( UPS ) - notched a union first by speaking at the

Republican National Convention, where he praised Trump's

toughness. The Teamsters also broke with tradition and did not

endorse a U.S. presidential candidate last year. The UPS

contract expires in 2028, Trump's final year in office.

Pro-union attorneys said Trump's track record is not one of

union support.

During his first term as president, Trump's appointees to the

National Labor Relations Board issued a series of rulings seen

as favoring businesses and making it more difficult for unions

to organize workers. The board enforces workers' rights to

organize and join unions and investigates allegations that

employers have engaged in unlawful labor practices.

In December, Trump threatened to fire federal workers who do not

return to the office for work. He also tasked Elon Musk, the

world's richest person who has called the NLRB unconstitutional,

with slashing the federal budget.

"I don't think he's going to support the labor movement,"

attorney Creighton said of Trump. "He has sought to undermine

the labor movement."