Ports all up and down the East Coast and along the Gulf Coast will shut down tonight at midnight if a labor agreement isn’t made between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance.
This strike at these 14 ports “will do serious damage to the functioning of the U.S. economy” according to logistic experts.
In practicality, prices will skyrocket for items at these shipping ports which have to transported in a more expensive way to get to their destinations.
Here’s more from CNBC:
With a potential strike at ports up and down the East Coast and along the Gulf Coast set to begin after midnight Monday, logistics executives tell CNBC the remaining hours are critical in moving out as much trade as possible before a shutdown that will do serious damage to the functioning of the U.S. economy.
Based on data from ImportGenius, which tracks the bills of lading — the digital receipts of cargo containers — a total of 54,456 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) arrived on Friday at the 14 ports operating under the master contract between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) which expires at midnight Monday. The approximate value of that freight was upward of $2.7 billion, based on an MDS Transmodal estimate of $50,000 per container. For the weekdays between Sept. 23-27, a total of 273,417 TEUs were imputed through customs at these ports with a value of approximately $13.67 billion.
Alan Baer, CEO of OL USA, said the enormity of the freight volumes arriving Friday alone shows the scramble logistics companies are in to get the containers off the dock by close of business Monday. “Importers, in coordination with their logistic partners, should try to clear as many of their containers off open terminals where possible to avoid possible delays in acquiring their inventory,” said Baer.
On average, it takes one week to clear out one day of a port closure. As much as 43% to 49% of total containerized goods entering the U.S are processed through ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast.
Michael Kanko, CEO of ImportGenius, tells CNBC the economic importance of the ports impacted by an ILA strike is profound. “As our data shows, a strike of even a week will block the flow of hundreds of thousands of containers into the U.S.,” he said. “These ports are also a major gateway into the U.S. for refrigerated produce. Time isn’t on the side of importers.”
The ILA is North America’s largest longshoremen’s union. The union said in a statement sent to the press on Monday morning that USMX “continues to block the path toward a settlement on a new Master Contract by refusing ILA’s demands for a fair and decent contract and seems intent on causing a strike at all ports from Maine to Texas beginning in almost 12 hours.”
“The Ocean Carriers represented by USMX want to enjoy rich billion-dollar profits that they are making in 2024, while they offer ILA Longshore Workers an unacceptable wage package that we reject,” the ILA said.
The ILA has said its 85,000 members, “joined in solidarity by tens of thousands of dockworkers and maritime workers around the world,” will hit the picket lines at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 1, and strike at all Atlantic and Gulf coast ports from Maine to Texas.
Approximately 50,000 ILA union members work at the ports of Boston, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Wilmington, North Carolina, Baltimore, Norfolk, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida, Tampa, Florida, Miami, New Orleans, Mobile, Alabama, and Houston.
No negotiations were underway and none were planned before the Monday deadline, according to a Reuters report.
According to the report, Joe Biden has the power to stop the strike before it happens but said he won’t do it:
The Biden administration has stated on several recent occasions that it will not use federal powers to force dock workers to remain on the job. “We’ve never invoked Taft-Hartley to break a strike and are not considering doing so now,” White House officials have said.
The Taft-Hartley Act, passed in 1947, was a revision of U.S. law governing labor relations and union activity that granted a U.S. president the power to suspend a strike for an 80-day “cooling off period” in cases where “national health or safety” are at risk.
