Port Workers Prepare to Strike as Deadline Looms Closer

Thousands of workers at more than a dozen ports throughout the United States are preparing to go on strike as the deadline for their union and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) to reach an agreement looms closer.

Dockworkers with the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), who work at roughy 14 ports along the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico are set to go on strike as of October 1 if their union and the USMX do not reach an agreement regarding their labor contract, according to the Hill.

Roughly “25,000 port workers employed in contain and roll-on/roll-off operations at ports on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts” are currently covered under the current agreement, according to the USMX.

The ILA is described as being the “largest union of maritime workers in North America,” and represents roughly 85,000 longshoremen located along “the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, Great Lakes, major U.S. rivers, Puerto Rico and Eastern Canada,” according to the union’s website.

A report from the Conference Board found that if the workers do go on strike, it could “cause serious economic fallout.”

“Just a one-week strike could cost the US economy $3.78 billion (i.e., $540 million per day),” the Conference Board wrote in the report.

The report also noted that if the port workers go on strike, it would “come at a critical time” ahead of the November presidential election and “as retailers scramble to finish importing inventory to ensure customers are well supplied ahead of the busy holiday shopping season.”

While President Joe Biden indicated that he would not intervene in the strike, under the Taft-Hartley Act, Biden would be allowed to get involved and “request an 80-day court-ordered cooling-off period,” according to the Hill.

Ahead of the potential strike, Americans were reported to be stocking up on “essential supplies,” Fox Business reported.

One person told the outlet that the possible strike had them “worried,” adding that it was “hard to be able to make ends meet as it is.”

Update 12:13 am ET: The NY Times reports, “Both sides have moved off their previous positions,” the Maritime Alliance said in a news release. “We are hopeful that this could allow us to fully resume collective bargaining.”