() – The massive strike at US East and Gulf Coast ports that began Tuesday may become one of the most disruptive strikes in recent memory.
The demands of the nearly 50,000 members of the International Longshore Workers Association (ILA) walking the strike lines remain at odds with the contract offer of the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX). acronym in English). The USMX represents the main shipping companies, as well as terminal operators and port authorities.
“If we have to be here for a month or two months, this world will collapse,” ILA President Harold Daggett said in an interview with on Tuesday morning. “Go and blame them (USMX). Don’t blame me, blame them.”
Striking workers have expressed genuine concern for the future of their sector. The strikes, which have stopped the flow of a wide variety of goods at the docks of almost every loading port from Maine to Texas, they also arrive in a crucial moment for the US elections.
Here’s the latest information you need to know about the US port strike.
The problems of the strike can be summed up in two words: automation and wages.
America’s port workers perform backbreaking and crucial work. Stevedores are opposing a growing trend by port operators to increase the number of cranes and driverless trucks – which use fewer people – to transport goods from container ships.
The port workers union demands “hermetic” language so that ports do not introduce automation “or semi-automation.” USMX is offering to maintain the current contract text, which the union says is not strict enough.
The ILA also wants a wage increase of $5 per hour in each of the six years of the next contract, or a total increase of 77%. USMX said Monday it increased its offer to more than 50% over the proposed six-year contract.
It depends on how long the strike lasts.
However, there are estimates. A week-long strike would cost the U.S. economy about $2.1 billion, according to an estimate Monday by the Anderson Economic Group.
The majority would correspond to a loss of US$1.5 billion in the value of goods that could not be delivered on time, such as perishable products. Transportation companies, including shipping companies and ports, would lose $400 million in profits, while striking and temporarily laid-off workers would lose $200 million in wages.
No.
Reports on social media show people are panic buying toilet paper, with empty shelves where there used to be toilet paper and sometimes paper towels.
But while people are likely to remember the days of the pandemic shutdown, the strike at ports will have no impact on the supply of these products. This is because the vast majority of American toilet paper comes from domestic factories. When it comes from abroad, it is usually transported by truck or rail from Canada and Mexico.
If the strike continues, there will likely be shortages of perishable goods imported by the United States.
One of them is the banana, of which the United States imports 100%. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, more than half of imports of bananas, the most popular fruit in the United States by volume, enter through the ports on strike since Tuesday morning.
Unlike toilet paper, bananas spoil, so shippers were unable to ship large volumes before the strikes.
Other products in danger: cherries, cocoa, sugar, imported wine, beer and spirits.
Although Joe Biden’s administration has expressed support for workers’ rights, a prolonged economic shutdown will almost certainly cause rising prices and potential supply chain delays weeks before Election Day.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, already said that he would not invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, which would force dockworkers to return to work.
“No,” Biden told reporters on Sunday, when asked if he would intervene in a possible strike. “Because this is collective bargaining, and I don’t believe in the Taft-Hartley law.”
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, did not comment on the strike until Wednesday, when she said in a statement that those on the strike lines “play a vital role in transporting essential goods around the world.” United States,” so they “deserve a fair share of these record profits.” Industry profits surpassed $400 billion between 2020 and 2023, as shipping rates soared during and after the pandemic.
He also criticized former US President Donald Trump’s employment record, claiming that he “appointed union-busters to the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board)” and recently said striking workers should be fired.
However, Trump said in a statement Tuesday that the strike occurred “due to inflation produced by Kamala Harris’ two votes in favor of massive, out-of-control spending,” likely referring to the American Rescue Plan and the Act. of Inflation Reduction.
“American workers should be able to negotiate better wages,” he added.
On Wednesday, Biden harshly warned of the “man-made disaster” caused by the ongoing port strike and urged both sides to reach a deal to avoid major economic repercussions.
“Natural disasters have incredible consequences. The last thing we need is a man-made disaster, like what is happening in the ports,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews.
And he added: “We are already receiving reactions – we are listening to people in the region – that they are having problems getting the products they need due to the strike at the ports.”
‘s Betsy Klein, Allison Morrow, Chris Isidore, Vanessa Yurkevich, Kayla Tausche and Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.
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