Unionized dockworkers in New Orleans have been gathering at the Felicity Street entrance of the Port of New Orleans since just after midnight on Tuesday (Oct. 1) as part of an International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) strike affecting ports throughout the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf Coast.

The ILA is seeking a $5/hour increase in wages per year, protection from job automation and full control over royalties paid by foreign shippers, the union said in a Tuesday statement.

Henry Glover Jr., president of ILA Local 3000, said the workers are striking because they fear automating operations at ports will lead to a loss of jobs and because workers feel they’re owed raises. The International Longshoremen’s Association said in the statement that the raises workers received in their previous contract, which expired on Tuesday, weren’t enough to keep up with inflation.

“That’s the problem that we’re having,” he said at the picket line Tuesday. “There are foreign companies [that are] trying to eliminate American jobs for automation.”

Matthew Toups, a reefer engineer and member of ILA local 2036, is a third-generation longshore worker whose father is also participating in the strike. He said his grandfather participated in the 1977 port workers strike, the last time longshore workers went on a strike. 

“The funny thing is if something breaks, you need someone to fix it. You need a human to fix it,” Toups said.

A chapter of the hospitality union Unite Here came to the picket line to support the dockworkers. Marlene Patrick-Cooper, president of Unite Here Local 23, told Verite News that it is “imperative” to support fellow union workers.

“These guys said they are not getting a fair contract. So what impacts them, it impacts us,” Patrick-Cooper said. “This is just what unionization is all about, standing up for each other.”

Although the strike has just begun, the longshore workers said they are prepared to stay out as long as necessary. 

“I believe we’re going to hold out till we get what we deserve. It’s no compromise,” Glover said. “We deserve the job protection, we deserve the wages and we deserve the jurisdiction for them not to be outsourcing our work.”

Most Read Stories

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Creative Commons License