In search of better wages and job protections, dockworkers on the U.S. eastern seaboard shuts down the traffic.
Inflation is increasing day by day, more than ten thousand of dockworkers have shut down the system and went on strike, blocked the key ocean shipping routes. They raise concerns about shortages and inflation. In the build-up to November’s presidential election.
This shutdown by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) stopped traffic at 36 ports from marine to Texas that began at midnight on Tuesday.
This kind of strike is happening for the first time in five decades where this is a threat to billions in losses for the U.S. economy and hamper the flow of goods, such as food and clothing.
One of the major causes for this strike is the expiry of the contract of six years that ended causing labor disputes with the employers group United States maritime Alliance (USMX).
They offered a new contract but this time they want an increase in wages and more [protection for the jobs. estimated 77 percent increase they are looking for. also to prevent any automation that causes threats for jobs and workers.
USMX vowed to increase wages by 50 percent but ila is not satisfied with that. During covid-19 pandemic, they profited massively to the companies. This inflation has affected how far their paycheques have gone.
In a statement by Herold Dagget, who is the head of ILA, he stated ‘ We are prepared to fight as long as necessary, to stay out on strike for whatever period it takes, to get the wages and protections against automation our ILA members deserve
After shipping firms raked in billions during the pandemic, “we want them to pay back”, said local ILA president in Philadelphia Boise Butler. “They’re going to pay back”.
Afraid it’s going to be ugly
While analysts say US consumers are unlikely to feel the effects of the strike immediately, their wallets could take a hit if it stretches on for too long.
The worry is that the longer this lasts, the more retail shortages will happen and the more price increases Americans will see,” said Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey from New Jersey, where, along with New York, some 100,000 unloaded shipping containers are piled up at ports.
“Those are containers that would be carrying goods that American people need,” Saloomey said
Fearing major losses, businesses who send or receive goods over the ocean are eyeing other shipping options, such as using the US West Coast for their deliveries. However “there’s no easy Plan B”, Erin McLaughlin, senior economist at the business research non-profit Conference Board told the AFP news agency.
“While shippers have already begun diverting some cargo to the West Coast, capacity for such alternative options are limited,” said McLaughlin.
Dockworkers on the West Coast are not on strike, as they are part of a separate union and have their own contract that they agreed on last year, securing a large increase in wages.
Steve Hughes, CEO of HCS International, which focuses on automotive shipping, told the Reuters news agency that the union’s strike is “holding the entire country over a barrel … I’m really afraid that it is going to be ugly”.
Forecaster Oxford Economics projects the standoff could drain $4.5bn-$7.5bn from the US economy each week.
Will the White House intervene?
The shutdown has put US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in a tough spot. Wants to neither alienate a powerful union nor come across as anti-labor to their progressive base. Nevertheless, they are also wary of any damage to the economy, which voters have cited as their top priority heading into elections.
So far, the White House has indicated it will not step in and directly intervene in the labor stoppage, despite calls from some retailers. On Tuesday, Biden said that “collective bargaining” was the best way for workers to get the pay and benefits “they deserve”. He added that it was time for USMX to negotiate a “fair contract” with the dockworkers.
The administration of the U.S. supply chain disruptions task force is determined to arrange daily meetings to control the situation and continue the process.