(Daily Caller) Ten of thousands of dockworkers could go on strike on Oct. 1 in a move that experts say could wreak havoc on American supply chains and reignite the rapid inflation seen in the early years of the Biden-Harris administration.
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) — which represents more than 85,000 workers at three dozen U.S. ports along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico and whose members collectively handle about half of the U.S.’ maritime imports — has threatened to go on strike for the first time since 1977 if their wage and automation protection demands are not met by the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) — the coalition representing shipping employers. The move could cost the U.S. economy roughly $5 billion a day in trade, and would massively disrupt supply chains in a way not seen since the COVID-19 pandemic, causing rapid inflation and hiking the cost of living for everyday Americans, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The impending dockworkers strike could result in “a sharp rise in shipping costs, similar to the supply chain disruptions seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, which contributed to price increases throughout 2021 and 2022,” Peter C. Earle, senior economist at the American Institute for Economic research, told the DCNF. “While estimates vary, the Cleveland branch of the Federal Reserve alleges that 40 to 60 percent of the increase in prices in the post-pandemic period, particularly in the energy, food, and shipping sectors, were driven by gummed-up supply chains.”
LONG BEACH, CA – OCTOBER 2: Shipping containers left stacked in the Port of Los Angeles because of the West Coast lockout of dockworkers by shipping lines on October 2, 2002 in Long Beach, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
Inflation skyrocketed in 2021 and 2022 amid COVID-19 supply chain backups caused by emergency factory closures, sick workers and challenges getting goods across borders. The inflation rate, which sat at just 1.4% under former President Donald Trump, peaked at 9.1% in June 2022 and only fell back below 3% in July.
The Biden-Harris administration’s Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg took paternity leave in 2021 amid an ongoing supply chain and ports crisis, with watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) obtaining records revealing Buttigieg refused key meetings during that time.
“Perhaps it is not a coincidence that so many crises involving the Department, from the supply chain breakdown to the FAA system outage that grounded flights all over the country, have occurred on his [Buttigieg’s] watch,” PPT Director Michael Chamberlain previously told the DCNF.
Over half of America’s port capacity is located along the East and Gulf Coasts and nearly half of U.S. imports would be impacted by a work stoppage, according to a study from nonprofit MITRE published in July. The shuttering of Port Houston alone could lose the U.S. economy as much as $51 million per day in exports.
“A sleeping giant is ready to roar on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, if a new Master Contract Agreement is not in place,” ILA President Harold J. Daggett said in a press release on Sep. 17. “My members have been preparing for over a year for that possibility of a strike.”
