Port workers strike for first time in nearly 50 years

(The Hill) – Tens of thousands of longshoremen at ports along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico went on strike shortly after midnight, the first strike by the port workers’ union in nearly 50 years.

Workers walked off the job from Maine to Texas, the Associated Press and other outlets reported, after the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) and the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) failed to reach an agreement by the midnight deadline.

The USMX said Monday evening that it had “traded counteroffers related to wages” with the ILA, the first sign of movement in months.

The union has demanded wage increases and a total ban on the automation of cranes, gates and container-moving trucks. Negotiations had broken down in June between the ILA and the USMX over an automated gate at a port in Mobile, Ala.

The USMX also said it had asked the union to extend the agreement that expired Oct. 1.

“Both sides have moved off their previous positions,” the USMX said in a statement. “We are hopeful that this could allow us to fully resume collective bargaining.”

Many retailers frontloaded shipments or diverted shipping through the West Coast in anticipation of the strike, but businesses are bracing for a strike with no clear end.

Estimates for the economic impact of the strike cover a wide range: the business research nonprofit The Conference Board puts the cost at around $540 million per day, while analysts at JP Morgan estimated the cost could be up to $5 billion daily.

Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien issued a statement of solidarity with the ILA Monday evening, saying, “The U.S. government should stay the f**k out of this fight and allow union workers to withhold their labor for the wages and benefits they have earned.”

“Any workers—on the road, in the ports, in the air—should be able to fight for a better life free of government interference. Corporations for too long have been able to rely on political puppets to help them strip working people of their inherent leverage,” O’Brien said.

While Biden dispatched senior officials to urge USMX and ILA officials to “come to a fair agreement fairly and quickly,” the president declined to invoke a legal maneuver that would have bought the parties more time to negotiate.

The Taft-Hartley Act, which allows presidents to ask a court for an 80-day “cooling off” period for strikes that “imperil the national health or safety,” was last used by President George W. Bush in 2002.

Biden, who used another legal mechanism to avert a rail strike in 2022, said Sunday that he would not use Taft-Hartley to stop the longshoremen strike, citing “collective bargaining.”

The impending strike incensed some business leaders and Republicans.