| The dockworker union that brought half of US container trade to a halt last October has voted to ratify a new labor contract with their employers. A union chief called the deal the "gold standard" for ports globally. Nearly 99% of workers backed the contract, International Longshoremen's Association President Harold Daggett said in a statement, adding that "we now have labor peace for the next six years." The ILA-USMX accord is good news for the importers, retailers and consumers on edge from the uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration's trade policies and tariffs. (Click here for the full story.) "Retailers welcome this resolution to the supply chain uncertainty that has lingered along the East & Gulf Coast for some time," said Jess Dankert, supply chain vice president at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, whose members include Best Buy, Target and Home Depot. Read More: A $2 Trillion Reckoning Looms as Ports Become Pawns in Geopolitics Ports America CEO Matthew Leech said the deal is a win for both sides. "We have clarity on how we can use technology to drive efficiency and create value," Leech said. Ports America is the largest employer of ILA labor and a member of the US Maritime Alliance. Automation Fight The contract bans full automation, but crucially it separates that emotionally charged, job-replacing word from other types of technology that employers say is needed in order to improve the competitiveness at US ports. "We can be more efficient and reduce hours, that's ok. But we can't take jobs that we currently have," Leech said. Rather than replacing longshore jobs, efficiency gains will allow for more throughput — and create even more work, he said. Read More: Trump's Tariffs and Germany's Troubles Collide in Hamburg In the video address ahead of the ratification vote, Daggett addressed a complaint from employers about the reliability of longshore labor. "How can we fight against automation and then go and tell companies we are not going to show up? This has to stop," Daggett said. Employers also got assurances that ILA leadership would work with local chapters to address a lack of labor reliability port operators say introduces uncertainty and makes it hard to plan. Read More: Maersk, MSC Go Head-to-Head in Hunt for Shipping's White Whale Harold and his son Dennis Daggett have pledged to convene longshore labor groups from around the globe once the ILA-USMX contract is finalized. "This contract, when ratified, will become the gold standard among dockworker unions globally," Harold Daggett told members in a social media post last week. —Laura Curtis in Los Angeles Click here for more of Bloomberg.com's most-read stories about trade, supply chains and shipping. Don't Miss the Latest Trumponomics Podcast | Host Stephanie Flanders speaks with Joshua Green, national correspondent at Bloomberg Businessweek, and editor Laura Davison about the likelihood of a US shutdown, its consequences for the government and for Americans — and whether anything can stop Elon Musk's efforts to shrink the government. Listen here and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts | 
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