Thousands stopped working at midnight on Tuesday, October 1st, 2024, at the East and Gulf Coast ports of the United States. Dockworkers demanded more payment in their new contract, sending shockwaves through the supply chains, and affecting industries and consumers. Joe Biden says he will not use federal powers to end the strike, and on Tuesday, it pressured the workers to bump up their contract offer to land a deal.
The Longshoremen Association (ILA/around 45,000 workers) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) were trying to reach an agreement on a new six-year contract before the old one expired at midnight on Monday. The deadline is important because if the workers don’t accept the contract then the workers are able to strike freely which is what happened. Since they didn’t do an agreement before the deadline it pressured the workers to go on strike meeting their demands.
ILA officially announced that it shut down all ports along the East Coast and Gulf Coast from Maine to Texas. Harold Daggett, the leader of ILA stated the issues that caused the rejection saying that the workers felt the employers were not offering enough raise in wages to be considered fair, and the expansion of automation (machines replacing human labor) in the ports began to eliminate jobs. This is a concern to the ILA because more robots meaning fewer workers would be needed eventually leading to job loss.
ILA’s determination to continue the strike until the workers get what they deserve made the USMX (which represents the employers )respond by saying, their current idea includes a nearly 50% wage increase which is higher than any other union deal because of the inflation and COVID-19. Harold Dagget argues that a specific demand is a $5 per hour wage increase every year of the contract. To support his argument he said, “Our members don’t typically work 9-to-5 hour jobs; they work extraordinary hours, sacrificing time with their families.” These workers earn high wages and work up to 100 hours a week. The average US salary was about 59,000 dollars in the old contract in 2023. The White House became involved in siding with the workers in calling for a fair contract stating, “It’s only fair that workers who put themselves at risk during the pandemic to keep ports open see a meaningful increase in their wages, as well.”
Julie Su, the Acting Secretary of Labor, is disappointed in USMX for not offering “an offer on that table that reflects workers’ sacrifice and contributions to their employer’s profits.” The strike affected Joe Biden, known for supporting union nations in his administration. Donald Trump is using the strike as an opportunity to criticize Biden’s administration. He blames rising inflation for the strike because of President Joe Biden and the Kamala Harris administration, making the dockworkers suffer financially.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is concerned that other shipping companies might add extra fees because of the delays caused by the strike. Furthermore, he asked the carriers not to ask for any fees because they are already suffering from the major disruption. JP Morgan’s analysts claim that the strike could cost the American economy roughly 5 billion dollars a day explaining how much of an impact the strike could have had. CMA CGM (a huge French shipping company) has said they cannot fulfill their shipping obligations and warned us that they may ask for additional fees for delaying shipments. Businesses that rely on tariffs and Republicans are asking Biden to use the administration to use federal powers to end the strike because it might result in major consequences for the economy.
