How much do port workers earn? Here are the salaries of the striking workers.

About 25,000 striking dock workers In ports on the East and Gulf Coasts of the United States, they are lobbying for higher wages and stricter protections to eliminate their jobs.

Members of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), a union representing longshore workers, walked off the job on Tuesday for the first time in nearly 50 years while pushing for “the kind of wages we deserve,” ILA President Harold Daggett said in a social media post Tuesday.

Union officials argue that those wages should take into account high inflation, which has eroded longshore workers' salaries under their now-expired labor contract with the United States Maritime Alliance, known as USMX, which represents ports and shipping companies. While the industry benefits, longshoremen “continue to suffer from inflation due to USMX’s unfair wage packages,” the ILA said in a statement.

How much do port workers earn?

Only workers aged 14 East and Gulf Coast ports are on strike; West Coast longshoremen are represented by another union that has negotiated significant wage increases for its members in 2023. ILA members earn significantly less than their counterparts on the other side of the country.

Dock workers' pay depends on their years of experience. Under ILA's previous contract with USMX, which expired Monday, the starting wage for longshoremen was $20 an hour. After two years of service, this amount increased to $24.75 per hour and after three years to $31.90, with a maximum of $39 for workers with at least six years of service.

The union is demanding a 77% increase over six years, or the equivalent of a $5 hourly increase for each year of the contract. Under the union's proposal, workers would earn $44 in the first year of the contract, $49 in the second and up to $69 in the final year of the contract.

“I think this task force has a lot of bargaining power,” said Harry Katz, a professor of collective bargaining at Cornell University. “They are essential workers who cannot be replaced, and the ports are doing well too.”

What is a typical annual salary?

The top-tier wage of $39 an hour amounts to just over $81,000 per year, but longshoremen can earn significantly more by taking on additional shifts. For example, about a third of local longshoremen earned $200,000 or more per year, according to a 2019-2020 annual report from the New York Harbor Waterfront Commission.

A more typical longshoreman's salary can exceed $100,000, although not without significant overtime. Daggett, the president of the ILA, claims that these higher earners work up to 100 hours a week.

Across the industry, including in non-union jobs, wages for some longshoremen can be far more modest, at about $53,000 a year, according to the jobs website Indeed.

Late Monday, USMX said its latest offer would increase longshore workers' wages by nearly 50%, triple employer contributions to employee retirement plans and improve health insurance, while maintaining existing protections against automation.

contributed to this report.