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Just five weeks before the presidential election, US business groups warned of economic “paralysis” as tens of thousands of longshoremen went on strike on Tuesday, shutting down ports along the East Coast and Gulf Coast. .
Longshoremen represented by the International Longshoremen's Association set sail from a major U.S. port for the first time in nearly 50 years after their employment contracts ended at midnight. Negotiations for a new contract for about 25,000 ILA workers have been at an “stalemate” for months over pay and automation, according to the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents employers.
ILA President Harold Daggett told members picketing in New Jersey on Tuesday: “We are prepared to fight as long as necessary, stop striking for any length of time, and get the wages and automation protections that ILA members deserve.'' There is,” he said. .
The 30 affected ports, stretching from Maine to Texas, together handle a quarter of the country's international trade, worth $3 trillion annually, according to the Conference Board.
The business group warned on Monday that the work stoppage would “paralyze U.S. trade” and halt imports of food, medicine, consumer electronics and clothing. The union said it will continue to handle military cargo.
The closure represents the latest disruption to global supply chains, which have been strained by a drought that has restricted traffic in the Panama Canal and an attack by Yemen's Houthi militants that has driven ships out of the Red Sea.
JPMorgan analysts estimated the strike could cost the U.S. economy up to $4.5 billion a day, but said they did not expect it to last more than a week.
“There will be some disruption for a week or two, but there will be no widespread impact outside of a few areas that are very port-dependent, such as Savannah, Georgia,” said Adam Cummins, an economist at Moody's Analytics. will remain minimal.”
“However, anything beyond that will lead to shortages and upward pressure on prices. This will be particularly problematic for food and automobiles, which are especially dependent on the ports that will be closed.”
The White House said President Joe Biden is “closely monitoring” the strike and that the impact on consumers is expected to be “limited at this time, including in critical areas of fuel, food and medicine.” He said he had received an explanation.
Biden will press employer representatives to make concessions and offer USMX a “fair offer” for longshoremen that reflects “the tremendous contributions they have made to our nation's economic recovery.” He said he asked for it.
Julie Su, Biden's acting labor secretary, further stated, “These companies make billions of dollars, their CEOs bring in millions of dollars a year in compensation, and yet they do so at the expense of workers.'' Their employers refused to put proposals on the table that reflected their contributions to society.'' ”
USMX said the nearly 50% wage increase proposal “exceeds other recent union settlements while recognizing the ILA's hard work to combat inflation and sustain the global economy.”
On Tuesday, the union announced it was demanding a $5-an-hour wage increase in addition to “absolute hard and fast language that there will be no automation or semi-automation.” ILA members earned between $20 and $39 an hour under the old contract.
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The president refused to invoke a 1947 federal law that would have allowed strikes to be broken and rejected repeated requests from business leaders to intervene.
“Americans have experienced the pain of delays and shortages due to supply chain disruptions during the pandemic in 2021,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Suzanne Clark said hours before the strike began. “It is unconscionable to allow contract disputes to have such a shock to the economy.”
