ATLANTA — International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1410 sent out a press release announcing plans to take strike action Oct. 20 against CSA Equipment Company, which operates at the Port of Mobile, Alabama, on the Gulf of Mexico.
“There is overwhelming support among our members for strike action,” ILA Local 1410 President Mark Bass told the Militant by phone Oct. 17. “We know that what we do isn’t just about us. It affects every other worker too.” Local 1410 is the largest ILA local at the port.
Negotiations between CSA and Local 1410 for a new contract began in early 2018. Basic issues concerning work agreements and retroactive benefits remain outstanding and workers voted three times to reject company proposals. After the latest vote in September, union members decided they had no choice but to strike, the local’s press release said. “The men and women of our local have given all they can give,” said Bass.
ILA Local 1410 has a long history of extending solidarity to other unions, including support for the United Mine Workers of America members who have been on strike at Warrior Met Coal in Brookwood, Alabama, since April 2021. Bass was part of an ILA delegation that brought solidarity to striking port workers in Liverpool and Felixstowe in the U.K. in September.