About 25,000 striking dock workers at ports along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, they are fighting for higher wages and stronger guardrails around the automation of their jobs.

Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, or ILA, a union representing longshoremen, left their jobs on Tuesday. for the first time in nearly 50 years as they push for “the kind of wages we deserve,” ILA President Harold Daggett said in a social media post Tuesday.

Those wages, union officials say, should take into account the scorching inflation that has eroded the wages of longshoremen under their now-expired labor contract with the United States Maritime Alliance, better known as USMX, which represents ports and maritime carriers. While the sector benefits, port sector workers remain “crippled by inflation resulting from USMX’s unfair wage packages,” the ILA said in a statement.

How much do dock workers earn?

Only workers aged 14 East and Gulf Coast ports are on strike; West Coast dockworkers are represented by another union, which has negotiated significant pay increases for its members in 2023. ILA members earn considerably less than their colleagues on the other side of the country.

The wages for dock workers are based on their years of experience. Under the ILA’s former contract with USMX, which expired Monday, the starting wage for longshoremen was $20 per hour. That rose to $24.75 per hour after two years of employment and to $31.90 after three years, peaking at $39 for workers with at least six years of employment.

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

“I think this working group 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 also doing well.”

What is a typical annual salary?

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

A more typical longshoreman’s salary can exceed $100,000, but not without logging significant overtime. Daggett, the president of the ILA, claims that these higher earners work as many as 100 hours a week.

Across the industry, including in non-union jobs, pay for some longshoremen can be much more modest, around $53,000 a year, according to job site Indeed.

Late Monday, USMX said its latest offering would boost longshoremen wages by nearly 50%, triple employer contributions to workers’ retirement plans and improve health care coverage, while also preserving existing safeguards against automation.

contributed to this report.