President-elect Donald J. Trump on Thursday offered his support to a union representing dockworkers at East and Gulf Coast ports that is negotiating a new labor contract. His intervention could help the union win concessions from the companies that operate port terminals and avoid the resumption of a strike that was suspended in October.
The union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, has been unable to reach an agreement with port employers over the use of automated equipment at the docks. Writing on Truth Social, Mr. Trump said that he had met with I.L.A. leaders and was sympathetic to their concerns.
“I’ve studied automation, and know just about everything there is to know about it,” he wrote. “The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen.”
The I.L.A. believes ports are using automation to reduce the number of workers needed to handle cargo. But the employers, mainly large shipping companies, say automation is central to their efforts to make U.S. ports cheaper to use and more efficient. The employers’ negotiating group, the United States Maritime Alliance, released a statement on Thursday that said, “We need modern technology that is proven to improve worker safety, boost port efficiency, increase port capacity, and strengthen our supply chains.”
Unions across the labor movement are watching the port dispute to gauge how supportive the Mr. Trump may be of workers in his second term.
I.L.A. workers went on a short strike in October but, after securing a large wage increase, agreed to go back to work until Jan. 15. The union and the port operators said they would to try to reach an agreement on automation and other issues by that date.
Without a deal, the I.L.A. could go back on strike, potentially closing economically crucial ports just a few days before Mr. Trump takes office.
Mr. Trump won a second presidential term with the support of many union members who believed he would act in their interests. Many labor leadersare fearful that he could undermine unions, based on the policies he backed and officials he appointed in his first term. But some unions did not oppose Mr. Trump and even seemed to tacitly back his candidacy by not endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.
The I.L.A., which has around 45,000 members, endorsed President Bidenin 2020 but did not back Ms. Harris this year. The union has said that its president, Harold J. Daggett, “enjoys a long relationship” with Mr. Trump. Mr. Daggett met with the president-elect on Thursday.
