Dockworkers ON STRIKE From Texas To Maine Are Risking Shortages This Holiday Season

Daily Report October 01,2024

Dockworkers from ports in Maine down to Texas went on strike over wages and automation early Tuesday. If it drags on for any more than a few weeks, however, the walkout is likely to add to inflation and could also lead to supply shortages.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), which represents about 45,000 dockworkers at the ports and has been negotiating with port operators over a new contract, was still in talks as midnight neared but without a deal, according to ILA spokesman Jim McNamara.

Although there was some progress in talks on Monday, workers walked off the job. It is believed to be the biggest intervention by the union since 1977, at 36 ports.

Dockworker Meikysha Wright and others walked picket lines at the Virginia International Gateway in Portsmouth on Tuesday. And in Philadelphia, employees were walking the picket line at a rail crossing just after midnight.

The ports are represented by the US Maritime Alliance, which said late Monday that wage proposals had been modified on both sides. But it was obvious as the clock crossed into Friday morning with employees walking the picket line.

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The union originally started out asking for a 77% pay increase spread over six years and ILA President Harold Daggett arguing that it was the only way to keep up with inflation, and years of little or no wage increases. The current base salary for ILA members is approximately $81,000 a year but with the giant overtime, some earn more than $200,000.

Over the weekend, the union rejected an offer by GM that included the wage increase and won tentative agreement from Ford to maintain automation limits. On Monday, the alliance then upped its offer to a 50% pay boost over six years and kept in place existing restrictions over automation – which has been of huge concern to UAW workers. But the union is asking for a total ban on automation leading to a wide gulf between the two sides.

“Hopefully, this could provide a path to lay to rest the outstanding issues and return (to) collective bargaining on those other matters, ” the alliance said in a statement.

The union didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, but had accused the ports of refusing to negotiate in good faith and seemed headed toward a strike. The two sides had not held face-to-face formal talks since June. The alliance added that it committed to tripling employer contributions to retirement accounts as well as enhancing health insurance benefits.

But experts say consumers may not see the benefits of that stockpiling right away — with a prolonged strike potentially wreaking havoc on supply chains, raising prices and delaying products from reaching stores. Of the 75% of bananas that arrive in Britain, most come through the affected ports, making perishable imports one of the most exposed to disruption.

But when there are no wagons to haul, businesses start to feel the pinch — especially if a strike drags on into the busy holiday season, when toys and Christmas decorations are in demand alongside cars and coffee. J.P. Morgan also found that a total East and Gulf coast of the US port shutdown could hit the US economy $3.8 billion to $4.5 billion per day — although some of these losses would be recouped when business resumed again afterwards.

The timing is politically sensitive and comes just weeks before the presidential election. Some industries had called for a resolution, or asked the U.S. government to intervene, but President Joe Biden, who has sought warmer ties with unions, said he was not planning to invoke the provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act which allows him to impose an 80-day cooling off period.

The industries from retailers to auto parts suppliers that have been on edge for months, bracing themselves for potential disruption as the strike carries on.