Dockworkers to resume contract negotiations as strike threat looms

The big picture: The ports are responsible for about half of all the containers coming into and out of the U.S.

• Any work stoppage that goes on for more than a few days would be big economic hit, raising the prospect of higher prices and shortages of everything from bananas to car parts, just as the second Trump administration is getting underway.
• The news about contract talks resuming was first reported by the Journal of Commerce.

Catch up quick: The dockworkers briefly went on strike last year before reaching a deal on pay that was pushed along by the Biden administration's behind-the-scenes machinations.

• The pro-labor White House pressured the group that represents the port employers to raise their offer on pay. They ultimately agreed to a 62% wage increase over six years.
• Trump also appears to be siding with the union, the International Longshoremen's Association.

Friction point: The big sticking point holding up a deal is automation. The union wants to hold it back and stop the installation of more semi-automated cranes at the ports. (Two ports, in Norfolk, Virginia, and Bayonne, New Jersey, already use the technology.)

• The group representing port employers, the United States Maritime Alliance, wants to advance its use of technology.

Zoom in: The Alliance says automation is the only way for East and Gulf Coast ports to handle more shipping volume, per a one-pager viewed by Axios.

• One terminal doubled its capacity after implementing semi-automated equipment. The increase in productivity led to an increase in hiring, the group says.

• "Moving more containers through the same terminal means more union jobs," per the document. The union, meanwhile, says automation kills jobs.

Between the lines: The politics might be murkier than at first glance.

• Trump came out against automation in a Truth Social post last month: "The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen."
• But later in the month, Trump ally Elon Musk reposted a video on X that was highly critical of the union's stance against automation.

What to watch: It's unclear if the Biden White House will involve itself as closely as it did last fall to push the parties to a deal.

• A strike averted and a deal reached before the deadline would be a huge win for the incoming Trump administration.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with details on the port employers' position.