Key issues include demands for higher wages and resistance to port automation. ILA President Harold Daggett warns that government intervention, like invoking the Taft-Hartley Act, could lead to worker slowdowns.

A strike, especially during peak shipping season, could severely impact operations. Sea Intelligence estimates a one-day strike could cause delays lasting five days, while a week-long strike might result in slowdowns until mid-November. Daily freight at East Coast ports is valued at $3.7 billion, with potential delays raising consumer costs and disrupting supply chains.

The National Retail Federation and other groups urge government intervention, fearing even brief disruptions could harm the economy. The U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) is open to negotiations but fears the ILA is set on striking.

Both parties have engaged the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service, but with the October 1 deadline approaching, a resolution remains uncertain.

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Local 2525 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 5 ratified a contract offer from the parent company of Case and New Holland equipment brands, according to a Facebook post May 4 on the union’s Facebook page.

About 700 members of the union voted April 27 to reject CNH’s initial offer, but to extend the existing contract until May 3 for further negotiations. IAM Local 2525 members sought better pay rates, healthcare and job security.

On May 4, CNH presented another contract offer, which the union ratified that same day to avert a strike, according to the union’s Facebook post.

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Nearly 700 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 2525 (District 5) at Case New Holland (CNH) in Fargo, N.D., have rejected the company’s offer, according to an April 29 press release from the union. The current agreement has been extended until Friday, May 3 to address the members’ concerns. IAM Local 2525 members are in pursuit of improved pay rates, healthcare and job security.

Contract discussions between CNH Industrial and union-represented workers at the Fargo, N.D., plant were described by a union leader as “intense”” in an April 24 report from KFGO.

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Gradall Industries manufactures wheeled and crawler telescopic excavators, and the strike does not impact any of Alamo Group’s ag equipment manufacturing.

The approximately 200 workers are part of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), District Lodge 54, Local Lodge 1285. Alamo Group employs approximately 4,350 employees, according to its annual report filed with the SEC on Feb. 22, 2024.

“Negotiations are ongoing and the Company is committed to working in good faith with union leaders to reach agreement on the new labor agreement and restore normal operations,” the press release said.

An April 15 press release from IAM stated, “Gradall members are seeking higher pay increases and more stable health insurance costs.”

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The messages are one of the final steps to close a strike that lasted eight months, the longest-running major work stoppage in Iowa in 12 years. The union’s vote Saturday to end the strike capped a hostile standoff between the UAW and the Italian-owned implement manufacturer, a fight in which union leaders say they rejected dozens offers before even taking a contract to members.

How did the strike end? The latest proposal passed with 62% of the vote between the two groups on strike, UAW Local 807 at CNH’s Burlington plant and the larger UAW Local 180 at its plant in Racine, Wisconsin.

The outcome showed a significant shift in member sentiment from the previous contract vote Jan. 7, when only 45% of strikers approved a proposal from CNH. The swing over the last two weeks came even as multiple members said the actual offer from the company barely budged.

What changed workers’ minds? Multiple workers say they received letters from the company Jan. 17, informing them that managers would hire permanent replacements if the union didn’t vote to ratify an agreement by Jan. 23.

If a company hires permanent replacements, it doesn’t have to immediately re-hire every union member once the strike ends. The company merely has to place those workers on a striker recall list. The company then has to offer those workers jobs as positions become open.

Why did workers hold out for so long? Kim Alber, a paint line employee who has worked at CNH Industrial for 10 years, said many members had stuck with their opposition, despite what the company hyped as a 28% pay bump in its Jan. 7 offer, because it was offering a less generous health insurance plan to new hires.

“That’s a lot of money,” she said of CNH’s offer. “If you just looked at it that way, if you only only looked at the money part of it, that’s a good raise.”

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Approximately 1,100 workers went on strike at two plants – 400 in Burlington, Iowa, and 700 in Racine, Wisconsin – on May 2 to challenge wages, overtime, vacation and retirement benefits.

The agreement, which was approved, was reportedly an improved version of CNH’s “last, best and final offer” that was rejected by UAW members on January 7. According to UAW officials, the new contract provides wage increases, shift premium increases, classification upgrades as well as other improvements.

A union official told The Hawk Eye Newspaper that members voted 62.4% in favor and 37.6% against the proposal this time. In addition, the vote reportedly came after CNH issued a letter to UAW members informing them of an intention to hire 220 permanent replacement workers.

Officials did not disclose any details of what is included in the contract. Previously, the company said the last offer that workers rejected included wage increases of 28% to 38% over four years. CNH did not immediately respond to questions Sunday. 

“This agreement reflects the effort of a determined bargaining team and members being on an almost nine-month strike,” said Ray Curry, UAW president. “UAW members at Locals 180 and 807 did the hard work to strengthen the hand of negotiators.”

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In an interview with The Associated Press Thursday, President Ray Curry said he’s hopeful the deal will be reached “within the next week or two” and presented to members for another vote.

More than 1,000 workers have been on strike at CNH plants in Iowa and Wisconsin for nearly nine months. On  from the maker of construction and agricultural equipment and stayed on the picket lines.

The company, Curry said, has been talking with the UAW since the rejection. “We believe that there is going to be an offer that’s there that the membership will see in a different light, with adjustments, not the same offer,” he said.

Workers at the two plants previously rejected at the start of the strike a three-year deal that included 18.5% raises because of concerns that the proposed raises wouldn’t cover soaring inflation and health insurance costs.

The CNH strike is one of the longest ones over the past couple of years as workers have increasingly demanded better pay and working conditions coming out of the pandemic. 

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The union did not disclose how many workers at the two plants rejected the four-year deal, which included wage increases of 25% to 38% according to CNH on Sunday. Still, union members said the proposed contract failed to provide enough of a raise to combat inflation, additional vacation days or better healthcare coverage.

The UAW represents about 1,000 workers at the plants, and union officials had warned a rejection of the latest offer was likely.

“We’re going to notify the company and see if they are willing to come back to the table,” said Yasin Mahdi, the UAW local president in Racine, Wisconsin, where the company employs about 700 people. “I hope the next time they come with a real, bona fide offer.”

CNH officials said the latest offer was its “last, best and final” and in a statement encouraged employees to “reconsider their position in another vote.” The company said it will wait for the union to take the next step.

Workers in May had rejected an offer by the maker of agriculture and construction equipment that included an 18.5% wage increase over three years.

The Italian-American company brought in replacement workers to keep the factories operating once the strike began, union officials said. The plant in Racine, 60 miles (100 km) north of Chicago, makes tractors and combines, while the Burlington, Iowa, facility builds tractor loaders backhoes and forklifts.

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While some members on the picket line said last Thursday they were a bit scared the strike’s gone on for 213 days, they also feel they’re still holding strong.

According to local union leaders in Burlington, U.S. Secretary of Labor Martin Walsh has now stepped in to mediate.

“Our main focus is to try to get back to the table and end the strike,” UAW Local 807 President Nick Guernsey said. “[Walsh] has agreed to step in, and we know he’s made contact with the company … to help try to get the ball rolling.”

Negotiations have stalled between CNH and UAW. In late September the union received the company’s “last, best, and final offer.”

As the days grow colder, some members are starting to worry about not going back to work.

However, for many seeing the strike go through is all about the bigger picture.

The union is still waiting to hear back from the Department of Labor. There is no date set for CNH and UAW to return to the bargaining table.

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Mahdi stated CNHI’s had proposed increasing wages by a combined $4.81 an hour over the next 4 years from the current rate of $20.93 per hour. Mahdi said CNHI had made its “last and best offer” in late September, but the union didn’t respond because it considered the contract “unacceptable.”

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