East and Gulf coast ports shut down as thousands of workers go on strike
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • 2 months ago • 50 commentsBy: Mike Calia, Steve Kopack and Jason Abbruzzese
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Tens of thousands of longshoremen went on strike at midnight ET, shutting down major ports along the East and Gulf coasts and choking off deliveries of everything from produce to auto parts.
Consumers aren't likely to feel the pinch unless a walkout lasts for multiple weeks, because businesses and logistics firms took pre-emptive steps to blunt the impact with the holiday shopping season about to kick off. But a work stoppage could still cost the U.S. economy anywhere from several hundred million dollars to $4.5 billion a day, analysts and business groups say. Costs from redirecting goods along longer routes would be passed on to consumers.
The ports handle about half the ocean imports in the U.S. Varying estimates say the strike encompasses 25,000 to 50,000 members of the International Longshoremen's Association. All told, the ILA has 85,000 members. Union leaders argue that big global cargo carriers have raked in huge profits since pandemic-era supply-chain snags drove up freight rates, saying workers haven't sufficiently shared in those gains.
In a video posted to an ILA Instagram account, Harold J. Daggett addressed union workers at Maher Terminals in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
"This is going down in history what we're doing here," he said.
"They can't survive too long," he added.
The strike caps months of heated rhetoric between the union and the United States Maritime Alliance, or USMX, which represents major ocean freight and port operators. The union is seeking raises, as well as limits on automation at ports that it says could cost jobs. The two sides hadn't negotiated in the days leading up to the potential stoppage.
"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 union said in a statement Monday.
The USMX, meanwhile, said that it had been exchanging offers with the union and had hoped to avoid a work stoppage.
"Our offer would increase wages by nearly 50 percent, triple employer contributions to employee retirement plans, strengthen our health care options, and retain the current language around automation and semi-automation," it said in a news release.
Several industries are prepared for the strike, having ordered goods in advance when it became apparent that a stoppage could start Tuesday, but analysts expect more serious impacts if the walkout lasts several weeks or longer. Trucking and other logistics companies raced in recent days to get as many goods as possible out of ports before a potential strike.
The vast port operations of New York and New Jersey stand to be most affected, with about 4,500 workers. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a news release that she urged the two sides to come to an agreement but that preparations had been made to keep shelves stocked.
"In preparation for this moment, New York has been working around the clock to ensure that our grocery stores and medical facilities have the essential products they need," she said. "It's critical for USMX and the ILA to reach a fair agreement soon that respects workers and ensures a flow of commerce through our ports. In the meantime, we will continue our efforts to minimize disruption for New Yorkers."
Business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have urged President Joe Biden to intervene using the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. Under that authority, Biden could seek a so-called 80-day cooling-off period that would force dockworkers to stay on the job.
But while the White House has been in touch with the ILA and the USMX in recent days, Biden has said he isn't looking to invoke the law. An intervention could also unsettle relations with organized labor 35 days before Election Day, as Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris looks to maximize her union support against Republican former President Donald Trump.
"Because it's collective bargaining, I don't believe in Taft-Hartley," Biden told reporters Sunday.
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If it happens it will have an impact on the economy.
fascism hates trade unions too ...
Union extortion. Nothing more.
It amounts to outright greed. In this day and age, most products are shipped in containers. There is not much labor involved other than hooking up cables and operating giant cranes and those funny looking machines that move the containers on the ground and stack them in the yard or load them onto trucks and railcars. What with overtime, pension contributions, health insurance, profit sharing, and other benefits, they are well compensated.
Longshoreman Hourly Pay in 2024 | PayScale
Many Dockworkers Make $150,000 or More. Why They’re Going on Strike. (msn.com)
So you have worked as a longie, Greg? Give a rundown on how you worked on the lashing crews or driving a bomb cart. How about using a kovacko crane sucking out tons of powered cement, slip and into the open hatch you go to drown. You also have to work in all kinds of weather day and night 7 days a week including holidays.
And they didn't choose it, right? Damned longshoreman draft lottery......................./S
I don't get it. What's your point here?
Well, the men in my family didn't have much choice but to work in the coal mines. That's all the work that was available in Vintondale, PA at the time (now there's nothing). If they had lived in Johnstown, they would have worked in the steel mills.
People take the jobs that pay the most.
They don't have to work the docks. They chose to.
Ports that can operate 24-7 want to increase port automation. Crane operation of the cargo containers and trucking them from the dock to railroad or tucking hubs can be automated. That's the big issue, not pay, tre union wants labor guarantees. They know it's unlikely that Biden orders them back to work so they are rolling the dice for long-term work guarantees.
True, but job choice has several factors to it that may not be so simple for someone on the outside to determine. What job options would you suggest for those now on strike?
FSS where are they located? That's right. Pretty much thriving port cities. I would imagine that with the wages they make, the job market/pay scale in those places has to compete with the high pay the dock workers get to have any chance of enticing people.
But what kind of jobs can they get?
Would think manufacturing, warehousing, distribution.................
Sure, I hear Amazon is hiring minim wage warehouse jobs.../s Oh wait... no dockworkers no Amazon shipping.
If those places are hiring....
They are. The company I work for are looking for people in those areas to work all over the country and overseas.
So many people love to spout their knowledge on things they have no clue about.
'Would think'.....but you don't 'KNOW' FSS.
If you can get 40 hours where so many places will not give you 40 hours because that would include benefits so yeah..........
They are not obligated to give benefits. It is an employer-by-employer choice............except for healthcare now.
If there is a port, there are warehouses. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out
They are called pseudo intellectuals and I see them every day. They are amusing trying to prove how intellectual they are but failing miserably.
???
???
Thank goodness for unions then, right?
No. the hiring in ILA is limited as is ILWU on the WC. so there are plenty of jobs that pay considerably less surrounding the ports.
Thanks for the truth/facts.
In the two biggest ports in th US, LA/LB the vast majority of warehousing is in Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga around 60 miles inland.
So there isn't any on the east coast?
Of course, there are, both private and public.
They turned down a fucking 50% raise?
It’s an active story right now. I’ve heard 50% over eight years. That’s over 6% a year.
I know. I'll take 6%+ a year LOL
Nope, not good enough although I do agree with their stand on automation.
It's more than I get every year.
same here
Perfect timing.
Helping folks suffering from Helene, etc, suffer just a little bit more.
Hooray Longshoreman! Get yours! Screw everyone else.
Biden has said he isn't looking to invoke the law. An intervention could also unsettle relations with organized labor 35 days before Election Day, as Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris looks to maximize her union support against Republican former President Donald Trump.
That is where Bidens and Harris's heads are at. Fuck Americans, there is an election to win.
it will be interesting to see what the west coast ports decide to do , no mention of them as of yet .
they might get real busy .
I think the West Coast longshoremen signed a deal last year.
The ILA and the ILWU on th W/C are two different unions with different contracts work rules and leadership.
Well, it looks like the country is going to get another lesson in supply-chain disruptions, 'free trade' economics, and labor union stupidity. The lesson we should have learned from the pandemic was that over reliance on imports allows the country to be held hostage by middle men. And a longshoreman strike only reinforces that lesson.
Yes, longshoreman are important for an import dependent economy. But it is also an obvious fact that longshoremen are middle men; they don't actually produce anything.
There's no denying that work on the docks can be difficult and dangerous. But we've always addressed those problems by using technology to make work less difficult and safer.
Consumers pay for the costs and delays in the supply chain. There isn't any other source of revenue to pay those costs. Yes, consumers will provide the revenue to pay tariffs and taxes. But consumers are also providing the revenue for increases in pay and benefits. The union is taxing consumers the same way the government does with tariffs.
So, who is going to raise the specter of Taft-Hartley? Joe Biden won't invoke Taft-Hartley. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump can only bluster and bluff. It looks like consumers are the designated losers. But that's the way it's been since liberals (both paleo and neo) took over government. The voting public has been trapped in a Twilight Zone for a long time. Have voters finally figured out that political promises 'to serve man' is actually a cookbook?
Trying to figure out their angle on this. Be interesting watching our friends on the left try to blame Trump for it.
Appears to be piss poor coordination between the Democrat party and that union. Usually much better than this but we’ll see when the other shoe drops.
Truth be told if this strike lasts past November 5 after Trump is reelected, they damn sure will blame him for it and put up articles of impeachment.
No doubt
Canada has a number of international east coast seaports, so ship there and then train and truck to the USA. It might increase the cost somewhat but the supply chain will be maintained, and necessities would still be available to all.
i support Longshoremen protecting their jobs against automation.
I support anyone protecting their jobs against automation, but I also feel like it's a losing argument. Automation is inevitable.
Yep, it’s 50’s union mentality. You can’t fight inevitability but you can plan for it and still save jobs with savvy negotiations.
We went through this with threaded rod back in the day. Plumbers/Pioefitters. Some jurisdictions fought it, required plain rod which had to be threaded. Lasted less than three years because they lost market share big time.
My main concern with automation is making sure we maintain control of it. No foreign company control.