Christmas in jeopardy as container ships full of goods are stuck at US ports and backlog will double by end of week
A MASSIVE port strike affecting the East and Gulf Coasts could bring Christmas misery to millions of Americans this year.
The head of the trade union representing dock workers has warned that the “world will collapse” if the strike goes on for another two months.
EPAThe biggest US dockworkers strike in 50 years is bringing supply chain chaos[/caption]
AFPLongshoremen are striking for increased pay and against automation[/caption]
AFPFears are growing that the strike could cause price rises and shortages[/caption]
Nearly 50,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) went on strike on October 1 after rejecting a contract offer from the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents major shipping lines, port authorities, and terminal operators.
Fears are growing that the first dockworker strike in nearly 50 years could trigger chaos this year as more than 45 huge container ships remain unable to dock.
Shoppers have begun panic buying items including toilet paper, with warnings that Halloween and Christmas supplies such as gifts and perishable items like food and alcohol could remain in limbo for weeks.
Long lines of container ships have been pictured outside of some 40 major US ports from Maine to Texas, with supply chains of everything from car parts to bananas in jeopardy.
Port employees want a $5-an-hour pay increase for each of the six years of the next contract – a raise of 77% in total.
Starting pay for dockworkers under the old contract was $20 an hour, rising to $24.75 after two years, $31.90 after three, and topping out at $39 at the six-year mark.
Longshoremen have also slammed the increased automation of their jobs, with cranes and driverless trucks taking over much of their backbreaking labor.
ILA President Harold Daggett was unapologetic for the chaos that comes just over a month before Americans go to the polls in November’s presidential election.
“If we have to be out here a month or two months, this world will collapse,” he told CNN in an interview Tuesday morning.
If walkouts continue for more than a few weeks, millions of Americans could be hit by higher prices and delays for household goods ahead of the busy holiday season.
JPMorgan has estimated that the strike could cost the US economy up to $4.5 billion a day.
This week, an expert warned that consumers should expect immediate shortages of perishable goods, with higher prices as a result.
Johns Hopkins Business School global supply chain expert Tinglong Dai exclusively told The U.S. Sun that even just a week-long strike will result in “empty shelves of fresh products like perishables and flowers.”
Nearly 300 trade associations have urged President Joe Biden to use federal authority to end the strikes.
But the administration has repeatedly said it will invoke the nearly 80-year-old Taft-Hartley Act, which limits the power of labor unions, to force longshoremen to go back to work.
Under the national emergency provisions included in Taft-Hartley, the president can direct the attorney general to seek an injunction from a federal court that would suspend a strike for 80 days.
This provision has been invoked 37 times by presidents, including in 2002 by George W. Bush during a strike involving West Coast shipping and stevedoring companies.
But even if the strike is resolved, the backlog in American supply chains could take weeks to resolve.
One solution put forward is for container ships in the Atlantic to use West Coast ports unaffected by the strikes via the Panama Canal since longshoremen on the Pacific are represented by a different union.
West Coast ports are already seeing an increase in traffic compared to usual, and this option would add thousands of miles onto journeys, take weeks to complete, and hike up costs.
This is the first major dockworkers’ strike since 1977, which lasted a total of 44 days.
That strike also came after major technological changes had transformed the industry, including containerization which made it cheaper and easier to move freight.
The strike was eventually resolved thanks to pay rises and the continuation of guaranteed annual income, although this was later got rid of as part of a new contract in 1986.
In the 1950s, more than 55,000 longshore workers were employed by the New York-New Jersey ports.
Today, that number is just 4,000, thanks in large part to increased automation.
But experts have warned that because of increased globalization and higher imports of everyday items, this dock strike could have far more devastating impacts than 1977’s.
“Americans at the time were consuming way more US-made vehicles, US-made clothing, US-made appliances, toys, recreational equipment,” Will Brucher, labor historian at Rutgers University told northjersey.com.
“The port strike in 1977 would have affected exports more than now,” he went on. “There was a better balance between an import-export based economy.”
THE STRIKE BOSS
ILA President Daggett has come under criticism from some for his lavish lifestyle.
The New York City native and dad-of-three earns $900,000 a year and reportedly owns a 76-foot yacht called the Obsession.
He also drives a Bentley and lives in a $1.7 million home in Sparta, New Jersey.
The USMX on Monday gave the union an increased pay offer of more than 50% over the next six years or a yearly raise of $3 an hour.
Experts have warned that items most at risk include bananas, as the US imports almost 100% of its supply.
More than half of American banana imports come through ports currently affected by the strike, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Other items most at risk include cherries, cocoa, sugar, imported wine, beer, and hard liquor.
The USMX has said it is still open to negotiations.
“Reaching an agreement will require negotiating,” a spokesperson said on Wednesday.
“We cannot agree to preconditions to return to bargaining, but we remain committed to bargaining in good faith to address the ILA’s demands and USMX’s concerns.”
OCTOBER SURPRISE?
The strike is being seen as an “October Surprise” ahead of the election – a sudden twist that could shape the final weeks of the campaign.
President Biden told reporters on Sunday that he wouldn’t intervene in the strike.
“It’s collective bargaining, and I don’t believe in Taft-Hartley,” he said.
Donald Trump put out a statement Tuesday blaming the strike on “the inflation brought on by Kamala Harris’ two votes for massive, out-of-control spending.”
On Wednesday, Vice President Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, said in a statement the striking workers “play a vital role transporting essential goods across America,” and “deserve a fair share of these record profits.”
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