For the first time since 1977, dockworkers at 36 East Coast and Gulf Coast shipping ports are discussing the possibility of a significant strike if a new contract is not hammered out when the present contract ends on the night of Sept. 30.
The ports potentially affected are shipping gateways for half of all container goods that come into and out of the United States. Some are hoping that Washington steps in before the ramifications of an extended strike negatively impact U.S. shipping.
In anticipation of a strike next week by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA)—the largest union of maritime workers in North America—the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) has filed an unfair labor practice with the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB), asking for immediate injunctive relief.
That would mean the union would be forced to continue bargaining until a deal is done. The NLRB request was made just four days before the ILA’s six-year contract with the ports expires at midnight Monday. The union said that if an agreement is not reached by then, 45,000 dockworkers will go on strike at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday.
Tracey Ortiz, the director of product management at SPS Commerce, told The Epoch Times that asking for a federal agency to intervene in union negotiations is rare.
“Typically, this doesn’t happen, and it’s a long shot to get their groups to come to the table,” she said. “But in this case for the union, the stakes are high because it’s more about money, it’s also about future automation.”
Ortiz, who has an extensive logistics background, added that the ports are looking to use more analytics and automation soon, which will make many jobs on the docks obsolete.
“A big piece of why they’re looking at striking is they want to raise wages to compensate workers before automation comes into play. It’s going to happen regardless, and the union is trying to negotiate this and pad their pockets,” she said.
Jason Miller, the interim chair of Michigan State University’s Supply Chain Management department, agrees that future automation of ports is an issue for the ILA, and they’re not going to back down.
“They’re being sticklers on this. They want a 78 percent pay increase, and based on what we are hearing from USMX, this is an incredibly large amount of money for them,” he told The Epoch Times. “My general view is if by Thursday or Friday of next week, both sides have not started sitting down to negotiate, that’s when the Biden administration says, we hate to do this, but it’s Taft-Hartley time.”
When a strike is believed to threaten U.S. health or safety, the president can implement the Taft-Hartley Act, which would then seek a court order asking for an 80-day strike interruption.
In 2024, union port workers earn a base pay of $39 an hour, but with overtime and other benefits, they can make upward of $200,000 a year. In a written statement issued last Monday, the ILA said that claims it is looking for 75 percent wage increases in a new contract are false.
“USMX knows what our bottom line with wages needs to be for our ILA rank-and-file to ratify a new Master Contract Agreement,” said Harold J. Daggett, ILA’s international president and chief negotiator for the union.
“They call me several times each week trying to get the ILA to accept a low-ball wage package. My ILA members are not going to accept these insulting offers that are a joke, considering the work my ILA longshore workers perform and the billion-dollar profits the companies make off the backs of their labor. 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.”
The two sides have not bargained since June.
Miller said that the length of any work stoppage will determine the impact on businesses and consumers but that he believes the automotive industry is particularly vulnerable.
“We bring in around 2 million metric tons of auto parts in containers alone just in those ports [affected by a potential strike]. It’s an incredible amount, and when you start looking at the German automotive makers, they bring a lot in from Germany to their plants in South Carolina and Alabama through the Gulf Coast,” he said.
“There is no alternative strategy in place. You can’t put the parts in a plane and truck it down from Canada.”
With a potential strike looming as retailers prepare for holiday sales, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), the U.S. trade association for retailers, said in a written statement supplied to The Epoch Times that it is hoping for Washington intervention sooner rather than later.
“Retailers are increasingly concerned about the negative impacts a strike at U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports will have on supply chains and the broader economy. With the clock quickly winding down, RILA is urging the Biden–Harris administration to quickly intervene and ensure both parties reach an agreement,” the statement said.
Ortiz believes government intervention depends wholly on the damage a strike might do to shipping schedules.
“I think if this goes on a few days and if the ports are jammed and rerouting to Long Beach, I think the government will step in and do something,” she said.
“One day at one port causes a big backlog. But it looks like even if the feds were to intervene, it wouldn’t happen until Tuesday, and for 36 ports, that could be catastrophic.”
