US retailers prepare for possible port strike as deadline approaches | How might this impact holiday shopping?

Time is running out to avert a work stoppage at ports across the East Coast and Gulf in what could become the most disruptive strike for the U.S. economy in decades.

Members of the International Longshore Association are expected to go on strike Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. ET at three dozen facilities across 14 port authorities. There are few signs that a deal could be reached before the deadline set by the ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance, which uses the acronym USMX. The maritime alliance represents the major shipping companies, all of which are foreign-owned; as well as terminal operators and port authorities.

The strike, which would be the first at these ports since 1977, could halt the flow of a wide variety of goods onto the docks of nearly every cargo port from Maine to Texas. This includes everything from bananas, to European beer, wine, and liquor, to European furniture, clothing, household goods, and automobiles, as well as the parts needed to run American factories and American workers in those factories. factories. It could also prevent U.S. exports from passing through those ports, hurting sales for U.S. companies.

Depending on the length of the strike, there could be shortages of consumer and industrial goods, which could then lead to higher prices. That would mark a setback for the economy, which has shown signs of recovery from pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions that led to higher inflation.

While the union says about 50,000 members are covered by the contract, the USMX estimates the number of port jobs at nearly 25,000, with not enough jobs for all union workers to work every day.

What could be missing

Affected ports include the Ports of New York and New Jersey, the nation's third-largest port by volume of cargo handled. But this also includes ports with other specialties.

Port Wilmington, Delaware, describes itself as the nation's premier banana port, bringing in a significant portion of America's favorite fruit. According to the American Farm Bureau, 1.2 million tons of bananas are moving through ports that could be on strike next week, representing about a quarter of the nation's bananas.

Other perishable products, such as cherries, also pass through ports, as do a significant percentage of imported wine, beer and spirits. Raw materials used by U.S. food producers, such as cocoa and sugar, also pass through the ports.

RELATED: What to Know About a Possible ILA Strike Involving Ports Along the Eastern and Gulf Coasts

East and Gulf Coast ports prepare for possible worker strike

And many non-perishable goods, like furniture and appliances, also move through ports. Retailers have been racing in recent months to have imported goods they plan to sell during the holiday season delivered to them before the Oct. 1 strike deadline.

The Port of Baltimore, which was briefly closed in March after the Key Bridge collapsed, handles the nation's largest volume of auto imports.

The union pledged to continue handling military goods even during a strike and said passenger ships would not be affected. Oil tankers and ships carrying liquefied natural gas typically head to other facilities that are not affected by the strike, as do bulk carriers carrying commodities such as grain. But almost every other port on both coasts could be affected.

What both parties want

The USMX says the union refuses to negotiate in good faith and that the two sides have not met in person since June.

“We remain ready to negotiate at any time, but both sides must come to the table if we are to reach an agreement, and there is no indication that the ILA is interested in negotiating at this stage,” the week said. last the management group. in a statement,

USMX has proposed salary increases of more than 40% over the life of the six-year contract, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations. The ILA is not publicly discussing its demands, but it is reportedly seeking annual wage increases that would result in increases totaling 77 percent over the life of the contract, with the top wage rising from $39 an hour to $69 .

The union says it has continued to talk with the USMX, but not in face-to-face negotiations. He said management knows what it requires to reach an agreement and that any strike would be the fault of management, not the union. He said his demands were reasonable given the level of profits in the shipping sector.

“ILA members are not going to accept these insulting offers which are a joke considering the work my ILA longshoremen do and the billions of dollars in profits companies make from their work,” Harold said Daggett, president and international leader of the ILA. negotiator, said in a recent statement.

Shipping rates soared during and immediately after the pandemic, as supply chains collapsed and demand increased. Industry profits exceeded $400 billion between 2020 and 2023, which would be more than the industry had made in total since containerization began in 1957, according to analyst John McCown.

The Biden administration, eager to avoid a strike, was in contact with both sides over the weekend to urge them to reach an agreement, according to White House spokeswoman Robyn Patterson. His statement seemed to suggest that the USMX was putting more pressure on the USMX to comply with the union's demands.

“This weekend, senior officials have been in contact with USMX representatives to urge them to reach a fair and timely agreement – ​​one that reflects the companies' success,” she said. “Senior officials have also been in touch with the ILA to convey the same message.

Business monitoring and concern

Staying on the sidelines and watching with great concern the businesses that depend on the movement of goods.

More than 200 business groups sent a letter to the White House last week asking the Biden administration to intervene to prevent a strike, saying the country depends on moving imports and exports through these ports.

“The last thing the supply chain, businesses and employees…need is a strike or other disruption due to ongoing collective bargaining,” the letter reads .

The letter does not explicitly explain what steps to take, but it implies that President Joe Biden should exercise powers under what is known as the Taft-Hartley Act, which took effect in 1947. President George W. Bush implemented the law in 2002 to end an 11-day union lockout at West Coast ports.

RELATED: Expect shortages and higher prices as port workers from Maine to Texas prepare to strike Tuesday

Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, Transportation Secretary Peter Buttigieg and Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, met with USMX representatives to push the leadership group to reach an agreement to avoid the strike. The ILA was also invited to that meeting but declined to attend, an informed source told CNN. Union leaders have said publicly that they do not want federal mediators or Labor Department officials trying to negotiate a new contract.

But Biden has said he has no plans to exploit the Taft-Hartley Act.

“No,” Biden told reporters Sunday. “Because it’s collective bargaining and I don’t believe in Taft-Hartley.”

(The-CNN-Wire and 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner company. All rights reserved.)

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