Dockworkers' union suspends strike until new year to allow time to negotiate new contract

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The International Longshoremen’s Association is suspending its three-day strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract. Photo from Port Houston

Some 45,000 dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports are returning to work after their union reached a deal to suspend a strike that could have caused shortages and higher prices if it had dragged on.

The International Longshoremen’s Association is suspending its three-day strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract. The union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies, said in a joint statement that they have reached a tentative agreement on wages.

A person briefed on the agreement said the ports sweetened their wage offer from about 50% over six years to 62%. The person didn’t want to be identified because the agreement is tentative. Any wage increase would have to be approved by union members as part of the ratification of a final contract.

Talks now turn to the automation of ports, which the unions says will lead to fewer jobs, and other sticking points.

Industry analysts have said that for every day of a port strike it takes four to six days to recover. But they said a short strike of a few days probably wouldn’t gum up the supply chain too badly.

The settlement pushes the strike and any potential shortages past the November presidential election, eliminating a potential liability for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. It’s also a big plus for the Biden-Harris administration, which has billed itself as the most union-friendly in American history. Shortages could have driven up prices and reignited inflation.

The union went on strike early Tuesday after its contract expired in a dispute over pay and the automation of tasks at 36 ports stretching from Maine to Texas. The strike came at the peak of the holiday season at the ports, which handle about half the cargo from ships coming into and out of the United States.

Most retailers had stocked up or shipped items early in anticipation of the strike.

“With the grace of God, and the goodwill of neighbors, it’s gonna hold,” President Joe Biden told reporters Thursday night after the agreement.

In a statement later, Biden applauded both sides “for acting patriotically to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of critical supplies for Hurricane Helene recovery and rebuilding.”

Biden said that collective bargaining is “critical to building a stronger economy from the middle out and the bottom up.”

The union's membership won't need to vote on the temporary suspension of the strike. Until Jan. 15, the workers will be covered under the old contract, which expired on Sept. 30.

The union had been demanding a 77% raise over six years, plus a complete ban on the use of automation at the ports, which members see as a threat to their jobs. Both sides also have been apart on the issues of pension contributions and the distribution of royalties paid on containers that are moved by workers.

Thomas Kohler, who teaches labor and employment law at Boston College, said the agreement to halt the strike means that the two sides are close to a final deal.

“I’m sure that if they weren’t going anywhere they wouldn’t have suspended (the strike),” he said. “They’ve got wages. They’ll work out the language on automation, and I’m sure that what this really means is it gives the parties time to sit down and get exactly the language they can both live with.”

Kohler said the surprise end to the strike may catch railroads with cars, engines and crews out of position. But railroads are likely to work quickly to fix that.

Just before the strike had begun, the Maritime Alliance said both sides had moved off their original wage offers, a tentative sign of progress.

Thursday's deal came after Biden administration officials met with foreign-owned shipping companies before dawn on Zoom, according to a person briefed on the day's events who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. The White House wanted to increase pressure to settle, emphasizing the responsibility to reopen the ports to help with recovery from Hurricane Helene, the person said.

Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told them she could get the union to the bargaining table to extend the contract if the carriers made a higher wage offer. Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told the carriers they had to make an offer by the end of the day so a manmade strike wouldn't worsen a natural disaster, the person said.

By midday the Maritime Alliance members agreed to a large increase, bringing about the agreement, according to the person.

____

AP Writers Darlene Superville and Josh Boak in Washington and Annie Mulligan in Houston contributed to this report.

Workers began walking picket lines early Tuesday in a strike over wages and automation, even though some progress had been reported in latest contract talks. Photo via Getty Images

Dockworkers in Texas, East Coast start strike with major economic, political consequences on the line

eyes on the picket line

From Maine to Texas, dockworkers at 36 ports across the eastern U.S. are now on strike for the first time in decades. And the work stoppage could snarl supply chains — leading to shortages and higher prices if it stretches on for more than a few weeks.

Workers began walking picket lines early Tuesday in a strike over wages and automation, even though some progress had been reported in latest contract talks. The contract between the ports and about 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association expired at midnight.

The strike also comes just weeks before next month's tight presidential election, and could become a factor if there are shortages impacting voters.

In early picketing, workers outside the Port of Philadelphia walked in a circle and chanted “No work without a fair contract.” The union, which is striking for the first time since 1977, had message boards on the side of a truck reading: “Automation Hurts Families: ILA Stands For Job Protection.”

Local ILA president Boise Butler said workers want a fair contract that doesn’t allow automation of their jobs.

Shipping companies made billions during the pandemic by charging high prices, he said. “Now we want them to pay back. They’re going to pay back,” Butler said.

He said the union will strike for as long as it needs to get a fair deal, and it has leverage over the companies.

“This is not something that you start and you stop,” he said. “We're not weak,” he added, pointing to the union's importance to the nation's economy.

At Port Houston, at least 50 workers started picketing around midnight local time carrying signs saying “No Work Without a Fair Contract."

The U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents the ports, said Monday evening that both sides had moved off of their previous wage offers. But no deal was reached.

The union’s opening offer in the talks was for a 77% pay raise over the six-year life of the contract, with President Harold Daggett saying it’s necessary to make up for inflation and years of small raises. ILA members make a base salary of about $81,000 per year, but some can pull in over $200,000 annually with large amounts of overtime.

Monday evening, the alliance said it had increased its offer to 50% raises over six years, and it pledged to keep limits on automation in place from the old contract. The alliance also said its offer tripled employer contributions to retirement plans and strengthened health care options.

The union wants a complete ban on automation. It wasn’t clear just how far apart both sides are.

In a statement early Tuesday, the union said it rejected the alliance's latest proposal because it “fell far short of what ILA rank-and-file members are demanding in wages and protections against automation.” The two sides had not held formal negotiations since June.

Supply chain experts say consumers won’t see an immediate impact from the strike because most retailers stocked up on goods, moving ahead shipments of holiday gift items.

But if it goes more than a few weeks, a work stoppage could lead to higher prices and delays in goods reaching households and businesses.

If drawn out, the strike will force businesses to pay shippers for delays and cause some goods to arrive late for peak holiday shopping season — potentially impacting delivery of anything from toys and artificial Christmas trees to cars, coffee and fruit.

The strike will likely have an almost immediate impact on supplies of perishable imports like bananas, for example. The ports affected by the strike handle 3.8 million metric tons of bananas each year, or 75% of the nation’s supply, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

It also could snarl exports from East Coast ports and create traffic jams at ports on the West Coast, where workers are represented by a different union. Railroads say they can ramp up to carry more freight from the West Coast, but analysts say they can’t move enough to make up for the closed Eastern ports.

J.P. Morgan estimated that a strike that shuts down East and Gulf coast ports could cost the economy $3.8 billion to $4.5 billion per day, with some of that recovered over time after normal operations resume.

Retailers, auto parts suppliers and produce importers had hoped for a settlement or that President Joe Biden would intervene and end the strike using the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows him to seek an 80-day cooling off period.

But during a Sunday exchange with reporters, Biden, who has worked to court union votes for Democrats, said “no” when asked if he planned to intervene in the potential work stoppage.

In an update Tuesday morning, the White House maintained that administration officials were working “around the clock” to help negotiations move forward — which included being in direct contact with both USMX and ILA. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were also “closely monitoring” potential supply chain impacts, the White House added, enlisting a task force to meet daily and prepare for any disruptions.

___

Krisher in reported from Detroit. Associated Press journalists Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, Mae Anderson and Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York, Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit, Josh Boak in Washington, and Annie Mulligan in Houston contributed to this report.

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Tesla no longer world's biggest EV maker as sales drop for second year

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Tesla lost its crown as the world’s bestselling electric vehicle maker as a customer revolt over Elon Musk’s right-wing politics, expiring U.S. tax breaks for buyers and stiff overseas competition pushed sales down for a second year in a row.

Tesla said that it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025, down 9% from a year earlier.

Chinese rival BYD, which sold 2.26 million vehicles last year, is now the biggest EV maker.

It's a stunning reversal for a car company whose rise once seemed unstoppable as it overtook traditional automakers with far more resources and helped make Musk the world's richest man. The sales drop came despite President Donald Trump's marketing effort early last year when he called a press conference to praise Musk as a “patriot” in front of Teslas lined up on the White House driveway, then announced he would be buying one, bucking presidential precedent to not endorse private company products.

For the fourth quarter, Tesla sales totaled 418,227, falling short of even the much reduced 440,000 target that analysts recently polled by FactSet had expected. Sales were hit hard by the expiration of a $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle purchases that was phased out by the Trump administration at the end of September.

Tesla stock fell 2.6% to $438.07 on Friday.

Even with multiple issues buffeting the company, investors are betting that Tesla CEO Musk can deliver on his ambitions to make Tesla a leader in robotaxi services and get consumers to embrace humanoid robots that can perform basic tasks in homes and offices. Reflecting that optimism, the stock finished 2025 with a gain of approximately 11%.

The latest quarter was the first with sales of stripped-down versions of the Model Y and Model 3 that Musk unveiled in early October as part of an effort to revive sales. The new Model Y costs just under $40,000 while customers can buy the cheaper Model 3 for under $37,000. Those versions are expected to help Tesla compete with Chinese models in Europe and Asia.

For fourth-quarter earnings coming out in late January, analysts are expecting the company to post a 3% drop in sales and a nearly 40% drop in earnings per share, according to FactSet. Analysts expect the downward trend in sales and profits to eventually reverse itself as 2026 rolls along.

Musk said earlier last year that a “major rebound” in sales was underway, but investors were unruffled when that didn't pan out, choosing instead to focus on Musk's pivot to different parts of business. He has has been saying the future of the company lies with its driverless robotaxis service, its energy storage business and building robots for the home and factory — and much less with car sales.

Tesla started rolling out its robotaxi service in Austin in June, first with safety monitors in the cars to take over in case of trouble, then testing without them. The company hopes to roll out the service in several cities this year.

To do that successfully, it needs to take on rival Waymo, which has been operating autonomous taxis for years and has far more customers. It also will also have to contend with regulatory challenges. The company is under several federal safety investigations and other probes. In California, Tesla is at risk of temporarily losing its license to sell cars in the state after a judge there ruled it had misled customers about their safety.

“Regulatory is going to be a big issue,” said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, a well-known bull on the stock. “We're dealing with people's lives.”

Still, Ives said he expects Tesla's autonomous offerings will soon overcome any setbacks.

Musk has said he hopes software updates to his cars will enable hundreds of thousands of Tesla vehicles to operate autonomously with zero human intervention by the end of this year. The company is also planning to begin production of its AI-powered Cybercab with no steering wheel or pedals in 2026.

To keep Musk focused on the company, Tesla’s directors awarded Musk a potentially enormous new pay package that shareholders backed at the annual meeting in November.

Musk scored another huge windfall two weeks ago when the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a decision that deprived him of a $55 billion pay package that Tesla doled out in 2018.

Musk could become the world's first trillionaire later this year when he sells shares of his rocket company SpaceX to the public for the first time in what analysts expect would be a blockbuster initial public offering.

Renewables to play greater role in powering data centers, JLL says

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Renewable energy is evolving as the primary energy source for large data centers, according to a new report.

The 2026 Global Data Center Outlook from commercial real estate services giant JLL points out that the pivot toward big data centers being powered by renewable energy stems from rising electricity costs and tightening carbon reduction requirements. In the data center sector, renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, is expected to outcompete fossil fuels on cost, the report says.

The JLL forecast carries implications for the Houston area’s tech and renewable energy sectors.

As of December, Texas was home to 413 data centers, second only to Virginia at 665, according to Visual Capitalist. Dozens more data centers are in the pipeline, with many of the new facilities slated for the Houston, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio areas.

Amid Texas’ data center boom, several Houston companies are making inroads in the renewable energy market for data centers. For example, Houston-based low-carbon energy supplier ENGIE North America agreed last May to supply up to 300 megawatts of wind power for a Cipher Mining data center in West Texas.

The JLL report says power, not location or cost, will become the primary factor in selecting sites for data centers due to multi-year waits for grid connections.

“Energy infrastructure has emerged as the critical bottleneck constraining expansion [of data centers],” the report says. “Grid limitations now threaten to curtail growth trajectories, making behind-the-meter generation and integrated battery storage solutions essential pathways for sustainable scaling.”

Behind-the-meter generation refers to onsite energy systems such as microgrids, solar panels and solar battery storage. The report predicts global solar capacity will expand by roughly 100 gigawatts between 2026 and 2030 to more than 10,000 gigawatts.

“Solar will account for nearly half of global renewable energy capacity in 2026, and despite its intermittent properties, solar will remain a key source of sustainable energy for the data center sector for years to come,” the report says.

Thanks to cost and sustainability benefits, solar-plus-storage will become a key element of energy strategies for data centers by 2030, according to the report.

“While some of this energy harvesting will be colocated with data center facilities, much of the energy infrastructure will be installed offsite,” the report says.

Other findings of the report include:

AI could represent half of data center workloads by 2030, up from a quarter in 2025.
The current five-year “supercycle” of data center infrastructure development may result in global investments of up to $3 trillion by 2030.
Nearly 100 gigawatts worth of new data centers will be added between 2026 and 2030, doubling global capacity.

“We’re witnessing the most significant transformation in data center infrastructure since the original cloud migration,” says Matt Landek, who leads JLL’s data center division. “The sheer scale of demand is extraordinary.”

Hyperscalers, which operate massive data centers, are allocating $1 trillion for data center spending between 2024 and 2026, Landek notes, “while supply constraints and four-year grid connection delays are creating a perfect storm that’s fundamentally reshaping how we approach development, energy sourcing, and market strategy.”

Houston-based NRG announces new CEO and succession plan

new leader

Houston-based NRG Energy Inc. announced Jan. 7 that it has appointed Robert J. Gaudette as president and CEO. Gaudette took over as president effective Jan. 7 and will assume the role of CEO April 30, coinciding with the company's next stockholder meeting.

Gaudette, who previously served as executive vice president and president of NRG Business and Wholesale Operations, will succeed Lawrence Coben in the leadership roles. Coben will remain an advisor to NRG through the end of the year and will also continue to serve as board chair until April 30. Antonio Carrillo, lead independent director at NRG, will take over as board chair.

"Rob has played a central role in strengthening NRG’s position as a leader in our industry through strategic growth, operational excellence, and customer-focused innovation," Coben said in the news release. "He is a strong, decisive leader with extensive knowledge of our business, markets, and customers. The Board and I are confident that Rob is the right person to lead NRG forward and take the NRG rocket ship to new heights. I can’t wait to see what comes next.”

Gaudette has been with NRG since 2001. He has served as EVP of NRG Business and Market Operations since 2022 and president of NRG Business and Market Operations since 2024. In these roles, he led NRG’s power generation and oversaw its portfolio of commercial and industrial products and services as well as its market operations, according to the company.

He has held various executive leadership roles at NRG. He earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from The College of William and Mary and an MBA at Rice University, where he was a Jones Scholar. He also served four years as an Army officer.

“It is an honor to be appointed NRG’s next CEO at this transformative time for the energy sector and our company,” Gaudette said in the release. “With NRG’s electricity, natural gas and smart home portfolio, we are ideally positioned to meet America’s evolving energy needs. I am grateful to Larry and all my NRG colleagues, both past and present, who built our great company and positioned us for the future. I look forward to leading our incredible team to deliver affordable, resilient power for the customers and communities we serve, while creating substantial value for our shareholders.”

In addition to its traditional power generation and electricity businesses, NRG has been working to develop a 1-gigawatt virtual power plant by connecting thousands of decentralized energy sources by 2035 in an effort to meet Texas’ surging energy demands.

The company announced partnerships last year with two California-based companies to bolster home battery use and grow its network. NRG has said the VPP could provide energy to 200,000 homes during peak demand.

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