'Profit over people is unacceptable': Port of Wilmington's cargo shuts down as workers strike

“Profit over people is unacceptable, support ILA workers,” read multiple signs Tuesday at the Port of Wilmington as longshoremen and other workers gathered to strike.

The Master Contract between the International Longshoreman’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance expired, and both parties have not reached a new agreement. Longshoremen across the East Coast and Gulf Coast are fighting for higher pay and fair treatment and at Wilmington’s port the situation is no different.

Just days after Helene left widespread devastation in western North Carolina, U.S. Rep. David Rouzer, whose district includes the Port of Wilmington, posted on X that the strike could cripple response and recovery efforts, as well as have disastrous effects on the local economy.

According to USA TODAY, each day of the strikes across the East and Gulf coasts could cost the U.S. economy up to $5 billion as imports and exports are blocked, some economists estimated.

The strike began Tuesday, and the Port of Wilmington has developed a contingency plan to recognize the strike. The port’s South Container Gate will remain closed for pickup or delivery of cargo until an agreement is reached, according to North Carolina Ports.

The North Carolina Ports is not a party to the agreement and therefore is not a participant in the negotiations.

“North Carolina Ports is hopeful that both parties will return to the negotiating table and reach an agreement that allows all the ports of the East and Gulf Coast to resume operations,” the statement said.

More: How many ships pass through the Port of Wilmington? | MyReporter

More: As other Southeast ports get deeper, what's the status of Wilmington's expansion project?

According to USA TODAY, Wilmington is just one of the 36 ports that has shut down as 45,000 union workers walked off the job.

The state-run Port of Wilmington is the largest and busiest of the two deepwater ports in North Carolina, the other being in Morehead City. Container traffic makes up a big chunk of the local port’s business, with the U.S. Department of Transportation ranking Wilmington the 21st busiest container port in the country.

Sandwiched between the much bigger ports of Norfolk, Virginia, to the north and Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia, to the south, officials with the Wilmington port have aggressively marketed the local port as offering a faster, congestion-free alternative to its larger competitors.

The 284-acre port also has invested significant sums to improve its landside infrastructure to keep up with its neighboring ports and the increased size of the container ships now plying the East Coast. That includes improved berthing areas, additional intermodal rail access to get trucks off local roads and bridges, including the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, and a new gate complex to make accessing the port faster and easier.According to an economic impact study by the N.C. Department of Transportation and N.C. State University, port activities statewide contribute $660 million annually in state and local tax revenues and help support more than 88,200 jobs.

Imports will be affected providing less product, cars, auto and machinery parts, clothing, pharmaceuticals, wine and spirits, holiday goods like toys and seafood, according to USA TODAY. The shutdowns come just days after hurricane Helene caused widespread destruction to Western North Carolina.

Charles Seaton, president of the Local 1766 clerical union for the port, said he wishes the contract would be settled because he knows the impacts that the shutdowns will have.

“I hate that it’s impacting the country, but at the end of the day, this is a fight for American jobs,” Seaton said.

During the pandemic, Seaton said the workers at the port “never missed a lick. ... We went to work every day, every night, 24/7,” and that he’s ready for everyone to be compensated the way they deserve.

Seaton, who has been working for the port for over 50 years, was at the port during the last strike in 1977. He said it lasted 103 days over 80 cents. But he said the economy now isn’t like it was back then as it’s much more dependent upon containerization. Seaton said America works on a one-week or two-week inventory, so this is something that needs to be figured out soon.

He said the port authority has been helpful and has been working to recognize the strike, providing portable bathrooms and closing the container gate, but that he hopes that the contract will be sorted out and the hard work of his colleagues will be recognized.

One longshoreman said that during the pandemic, he and his coworkers were in harm’s way handling imports from across the world, but their pay still wasn’t raised. He said that needs to change. He also said that prices keep increasing to ship containers, but even though they are working to unload, they haven’t gotten the increase in pay.

According to CNBC, the ILA is seeking a 61.5% increase over six years. It also wants protections against automation.

“They (USMX) don’t care about us,” said ILA President Harold Daggett in an online post Monday. “They would love to see automation up and down the whole East and Gulf Coast, trust me when I tell you that if it was up to them, we would have no jobs.”

StarNews reporter Gareth McGrath contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Longshoremen and workers are on strike at the Wilmington, NC, port