Maersk asks customers to remove cargo before strike at US ports

AP Moller-Maersk has urged customers to pick up their laden containers and return the empty ones at the U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports before Jan. 15 to mitigate potential disruptions at the terminals on account of a strike.

“On January 15, the conditional wage agreement is scheduled to expire. An advisory on Maersk’s website states that a coast-wide strike on January 16 is conceivable if no deal is reached by that date. “The negotiations have had no new developments since our last communication,” it stated.

A strike would jeopardize the current supply networks, stop billions of dollars in commerce, and increase inflationary pressures. After a three-day strike, the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) and the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), a union with over 45,000 members, reached a wage agreement in October that included a 62% pay increase over six years.

But the threat of another strike looms large if the parties fail to reach a consensus over the unresolved decisions related to automation and its future at U.S. ports. According to a news report, talks over the issue of automation have not appeared to be advancing, and neither the ILA nor USMX have indicated plans to return to the negotiating table before mid-January.