A U.S. senator on Tuesday warned of economic repercussions ahead of a threatened strike at major East Coast and Gulf ports in the United States on Oct. 1, as a union involved in negotiations said a “stalemate remains” over wages for longshoremen.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said the labor action “will have devastating impacts on the U.S. economy and negatively impact 25,000 longshoremen and the thousands of other port and freight workers who work at or move goods from the ports to businesses.”
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) is demanding significantly higher wages and a total ban on the automation of cranes, gates, and container movements that are used in the loading or loading of freight at 36 U.S. ports. Whenever and however the dispute is resolved, it’s likely to affect how freight moves in and out of the United States for years to come.
“The blame for a coast-wide strike in a week that will shut down all ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts falls squarely on the shoulders of USMX,” said Harold J. Daggett, the union president and chief negotiator, in a news release.
The Department of Labor on Monday communicated with the USMX, the trade group said, suggesting that the Biden administration is willing to help hammer out a deal before the existing contract covering 45,000 workers expires by Oct. 1
The USMX has said it has been unable to schedule a meeting with the ILA Union to continue talks on a new contract, which the ILA disputed in its Monday statement.
‘Worst-Case Scenario’
Underscoring the potential economic damage of such a strike, Ryan Petersen, the CEO of logistics company Flexport, warned that “the biggest wild card in the presidential election that nobody’s talking about? The looming port strike that could shut down all East and Gulf Coast ports just 36 days before the election.”“In the worst-case scenario—a strike that lasts for more than a few weeks or even months—could create massive risks for the U.S. economy. Rerouted shipments could overwhelm West Coast ports, creating container pile-ups, chassis shortages, skyrocketing transport costs, rail congestion, and an air freight market that’s already stretched thin,” Petersen wrote on social media last week in a series of posts.
He said a strike that shuts down ports along the East and Gulf coasts could force cargo to be moved into the United States via West Coast ports or through air freight.
“The world’s air freight network is already running at peak capacity, and anyways a single large container ship can move about 40 times more cargo per year than a 747 freighter,” he said. “Air network simply can’t pick up any slack.”
The Epoch Times contacted the USMX for comment on Tuesday.
