Food prices went up 25 percent from 2019 to 2023 and were expected to increase by another 2.2 percent this year—but that was before dockworkers walked off the job at 36 U.S. East and Gulf Coast cargo ports. Now, with the strike in its fourth day, there are real concerns that a prolonged action will drive food costs even higher.
“This concern about higher food prices is real. It’s the sticky price syndrome where the price goes up, and it just doesn’t come down that easily,” said Christopher S. Tang, a University of California–Los Angeles professor who teaches about and studies supply chain management. He is most concerned about the effects of an elongated dock strike on prices for U.S. consumers.
“I think retailers, on the whole, are already increasing prices. It makes sense. You’d rather increase 3 percent every other day than all at once. It’s like the boiling frog syndrome, and we will get used to the higher prices,” he told The Epoch Times.
Fresh produce and fish imported from around the world cannot be shipped from West Coast ports to the East without spoiling. There are also concerns about U.S. farmers struggling to export their goods.
While expressing concern about food exports, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall wanted to assure U.S. consumers that enough food is being produced in the United States to replace any import losses.
“While there is a risk of shortages of some items, the United States is fortunate that it can meet its nutritional needs without importing food. America’s farmers grow a diverse range of food items that ensure the nation’s food independence. Rest assured, America’s food supply is strong, and store shelves will continue to be stocked with domestically raised products,” he said in a statement released on the organization’s website.
“That’s not to say rural America won’t feel the effects of a dockworker strike. Farmers and ranchers rely on international partners to sell billions of dollars of home-grown food to markets around the world. A disruption at the ports could leave perishable food rotting at the docks, which threatens the livelihood of farmers.”
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) strike, which started on Oct. 1, is the first on the East Coast in 47 years. The union is fighting to gain a sizable increase in hourly wages and assurances surrounding non-automation from the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents U.S. ports.
The 45,000 union-member strike could cost $4.5 billion to $7.5 billion per week, according to research from J.P. Morgan. The company is predicting a minor reduction in quarterly growth but says that the strike is unlikely to impact the U.S. economy unless it continues for an extended period without any government intervention.
Anna Nagurney, a professor of supply chain management at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, told The Epoch Times that food expiration would be the most troubling aspect of an extended dock strike.
“The quality is going to deteriorate. The delivery of perishable food has to be on time, and it’s not going to happen if this goes on, especially things like bananas, berries, and cherries,” she said. “I think the price of meat will rise as well as fresh produce and some cheeses and definitely seafood.”
From its public statements, it doesn’t appear that the ILA will adjust its demands anytime soon.
“The wage increases in the previous contract were rendered meaningless by rising inflation,” the ILA posted on its website. “Meanwhile, foreign-owned ocean carriers continue to make record profits, imposing outrageous surcharges on consumers and customers, yet they balk at the idea of sharing these profits fairly with the ILA. Furthermore, the ILA is steadfastly against any form of automation—full or semi—that replaces jobs or historical work functions. Our position is clear: the preservation of jobs and historical work functions is non-negotiable.”
However, according to Nagurney, reality may have to set in sooner rather than later for dock workers, whose jobs will inevitably be replaced by automation.
“The workers may have to acquire new skills, and that’s a plus for them and for the union. But you also have to pay them sufficiently to acquire those new skills. In the long run, it’s going to be safer work for them and less physical,” she said.
Tang believes there will be a resolution sooner than later.
“A lot of predictions are two weeks at most, but President [Joe] Biden, who is pro-union, will be too nervous and too close to election day to intervene,” he said.
“Right now, it’s on the table to invoke Taft-Hartley and shut the strike down, but the last time that happened was when Richard Nixon did it in 1971. The union knows this, and they are in a very good bargaining position.”
