By Eric Beech and Lisa Baertlein
WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday signaled support for some 45,000 union dockworkers on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, whose labor talks are at an impasse over the polarizing issue of port automation.
“The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen,” Trump said in a post of Truth Social after a meeting with Harold Daggett, who leads the International Longshoremen’s Association union that represents the port workers.
The ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) employer group are facing a Jan. 15 deadline to finalize talks, which have stalled over cargo-handling automation. That deadline comes just five days before Trump’s inauguration.
The ILA vehemently opposes automation, saying it kills jobs.
The two sides agreed to end a three-day strike on Oct. 3 after the union won a 62% wage hike over six years with significant involvement by the White House and other officials from President Joe Biden’s administration.
Employers, many of whom are from overseas, have been booking record profits, Trump said on Thursday.
“I’d rather these foreign companies spend it on the great men and women on our docks, than machinery, which is expensive, and which will constantly have to be replaced,” Trump said.
USMX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Eric Beech in Washington and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Jasper Ward and Bill Berkrot)
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