Shippers beware: unions at US east coast ports prepare for strike action

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A couple of weeks ago, in an interview with The Loadstar, New York container terminal manager Jim Devine described negotiations between the management and unions over the introduction of automated technology at the New Jersey container facility Global Terminals as “civil, constructive and professional”.

However, at the same time other negotiations have simultaneously been going on between the US Maritime Alliance (USMX) – the umbrella organisation for shipping lines and terminal operators in the east and Gulf coasts that negotiates en ...