Employee Compensation
Longshore workers are among the best paid union workers in U.S.
Longshore workers have a superior wage and benefits package that places them among the best paid union workers in the country. ILA members on the East and Gulf Coasts earn an average of $124,138 annually in wages and benefits. In wages alone, they make $50 an hour, more than double the average hourly wage of about $23 earned by all union workers in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
ILA members also have one of the best healthcare plans in the nation, paying no premiums for family medical, dental and vision coverage and only minimal co-pays. Management covered 97 percent of the $400 million cost of healthcare in 2011 for both active and retired longshore workers and their dependents. That compares with the 72 percent share that U.S. companies pay on average to provide healthcare coverage for their employees, according to a 2011 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The total cost of the Master Contract covering 14,500 ILA members is an estimated $1.8 billion for the year ending September 30, 2012, the final year of the agreement.