(New York Post) Dockworkers at dozens of ports stretching along the East and Gulf coasts walked the picket line after midnight on Tuesday as they launched a massive strike that threatens to reignite inflation and spark product shortages at the start of the holiday season.
The work stoppage went into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday after the International Longshoremen’s Association, which represents 45,000 workers, and the alliance representing ports failed to renew a collective bargaining agreement that had just expired.
For the first time since 1977, 36 ports stretching from strategic seaboard locations as far north as Maine and as far south as Texas – all of which handle an aggregate $3 trillion in the country’s annual international trade – will be idle due to a work stoppage.
The labor dispute, in which longshoremen are demanding higher wages and protections against automation of their jobs, puts a pause on billions of dollars worth of daily trade and threatens to cause significant damage to an economy that has been beset by stubbornly persistent inflation.
It also comes at a critical time when authorities are in need of supplies and goods to deliver in hopes of helping parts of the Southeast recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene.
Ports throughout the Southeast and the Gulf lost power while congestion piled up as a result of the massive storm.
Retailers like Walmart, Ikea, Samsung, Bob’s Discount Furniture, LG and Home Depot that rely on imported goods have the most exposure to the damages that would ensue if the strike were to be prolonged.
Workers began picketing at the Port of Philadelphia shortly after midnight, walking in a circle at a rail crossing outside the port and chanting “No work without a fair contract.”
The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), the umbrella group representing the managers of the ports, sought to avert a strike at the last minute late on Monday night – offering a 50% wage hike over six years.
But the ILA rejected the offer, according to CNBC. Port ownership hoped that the offer would lead to renewed talks between the two sides.
The union appears to have dug in on its demands. In a recent video, ILA President Harold Daggett told rank-and-file members who voted unanimously to authorize a strike: “We’ll crush them.”
Daggett was seen addressing union workers at Maher Terminals in Elizabeth, NJ early Tuesday in a video that was posted to Instagram.
“This is going down in history, what we’re doing here,” he told union members. “They can’t survive too long.”
