Major longshore strike hits East Coast ports

Thousands of dockworkers at ports on the East and Gulf coasts went on strike early Tuesday morning over a contract dispute, interrupting the flow of goods and leading to a potentially costly work stoppage.

Their union, the International Longshoremen’s Association, failed to reach a new six-year agreement with the Maritime Alliance of the United States, the group that represents port employers from Maine to Texas. The workers walked out just as their previous contract expired.

It’s unclear how long the strike will last and how much it will cost, but a prolonged shutdown could deal a major blow to the economy since workers who handle shipping containers control key trade choke points.

This confrontation also poses a political problem for President Joe Biden, who has the power to suspend the strike. That would take away workers’ influence and could harm the pro-union president’s relationship with unions.

Workers formed picket lines at major ports early Tuesday, holding signs reading “Profit on people is unacceptable” and “Fight automation, save jobs.”

Speaking to workers at a port terminal in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Harold J. Daggett, the union president, said after the strike began that it would go down in history as a just struggle against Greedy companies.

“These companies…they don’t care about us,” Daggett said in a union video posted to Facebook. “Well, we’re going to show them that they’re going to have to give a damn about us. Because nothing’s going to happen without us.

The Maritime Alliance did not immediately comment on the strike, but said earlier Monday that the two sides had exchanged counteroffers and were “hopeful” to reach an agreement soon.

The ILA is pushing for significant raises in its next contract. Members currently cap at a base wage of $39 an hour, and the union is demanding a $5 increase each year of the next contract, or $30 over the entire term. The ILA also wants protections against automation at ports that it says would destroy jobs.

Daggett accused the Maritime Alliance of making “low” and “insulting” proposals that members could not accept and said the responsibility for a strike would fall “squarely on the shoulders” of employers.

He also said the ILA would not hesitate to attack trade, predicting that car dealerships, shopping malls and construction companies would have to lay off staff because they were not receiving goods and materials .

“These people today don’t know what a strike is,” Daggett said in a recent video produced by the union. “In today’s world, I will paralyze you. I’m going to paralyze you, and you have no idea what that means.

The Maritime Alliance had accused the union of walking away from the bargaining table in recent weeks. In September, he filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that arbitrates labor disputes in the private sector, asking officials to obtain an injunction forcing the ILA to negotiate.

(West Coast dockers are represented by another union which reached a new agreement with employers last year, so these ports would not be affected by the ILA walkout.)

The Taft-Hartley Act allows the president to intervene in strikes impacting national security, requiring work to continue during an 80-day “cooling off” period. Robyn Patterson, a White House spokeswoman, said in an email that senior officials had been in contact with the Maritime Alliance over the weekend, “urging them to reach a fair agreement, fairly and quickly “.

“We have never relied on Taft-Hartley to break a strike and we have no plans to do so now,” Patterson said.

House Republicans had called on the White House to “use all authorities at your disposal to ensure the continuous flow of goods» in the event of work stoppage.

On Monday, the AFL-CIO union federation urged lawmakers to stay out of the conflict and not harm port workers.

Liz Shuler, the federation’s president, said employers who can rely on an injunction to stop a strike are not negotiating “in good faith.”

“Like all other workers, tank tops the need is increasing just to keep up with the cost of living,” Shuler wrote in a letter to House Republicans. “They need fair contract provisions that protect their jobs from being eliminated by automation. »

In 2022, the White House and Congress intervened to prevent a massive strike by railway workers which could have damaged the economy – a decision which hurt Biden’s position among unions.