ELIZABETH, NJ – Tens of thousands of longshoremen went on strike from Texas to Maine on Tuesday, demanding higher wages and a ban on all automation at ports, a move that could disrupt supply chains just a month before the presidential election.
The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents employers in the longshore industry, were unable to reach a recent contract agreement. This is the union’s first strike since 1977, when dockers stopped work for several weeks.
More than 500 union members gathered at the gates of Maher Terminals in Elizabeth, New Jersey in the early morning hours to begin the strike. Harold Daggett, International President of ILA, rallied the crowd during a speech before one of the major container terminal operators at the Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal, an critical facility handling goods entering the New York metropolitan area.
“These greedy corporations got everything from us. We are the ones who worked through the pandemic to provide them with the money they got,” Daggett said in an interview.
Asked how long the strike would last, Daggett said union workers would strike “until the end.”
On Monday, the ILA said employers were overcharging customers by charging much more for containers, which would lead to higher prices for consumers. She stated that the wages offered by USMX were still too low to accept.
“Ocean carriers represented by USMX want to enjoy the rich billion-dollar profits they will realize in 2024 while offering ILA longshore workers an unacceptable pay package that we reject,” the union said in a statement. “ILA longshore workers deserve to be paid for the important work they do keeping American commerce moving and expanding.”
Scott Weiss, a member of ILA Local 1804-1, inspects containers being disembarked from ships arriving at the Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal, as well as the chassis of trucks that then transport containers filled with goods to destinations throughout the East Coast.
Weiss said the union is demanding wage increases that cover the costs of inflation and that a human eye is still needed to do the job well, even in the face of increasing automation.
“Employers are pushing automation under the guise of safety, but it’s really about cutting labor costs to escalate already extremely high profits. Automation of our country’s ports should be of interest to everyone,” he said. “The truth is that robots don’t pay taxes and don’t spend money in their communities.”
Relationship he said will continue to handle military cargo and operate passenger cruise ships.
Before the strike began, USMX was offering a nearly 50% wage escalate and increased employer contributions to employee pension plans. USMX has stated that the same language around automation will remain in their offering. On Wednesday, employers filed an unfair labor practices complaint with the National Labor Relations Board accusing the union of refusing to come to the bargaining table.
“Over the past 24 hours, USMX and ILA have exchanged reciprocal salary offers. USMX has expanded our offer and also requested an extension of the current framework contract now that both parties have moved away from their previous positions. “We hope this will enable us to fully resume collective bargaining on other outstanding issues in an effort to reach an agreement,” USMX said in a statement on Monday.
Voters remain laser focused on the economy heading into the November 5 elections. Eighty-one percent registered voters say the economy is very critical to their vote for president in November, according to a poll released last month by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center.
Lauren Saidel-Baker, a speaker and economist at ITR Economics, a nonpartisan economic research and consulting firm based in New Hampshire, said the longer the strike lasts, the greater its impact on inflation will be. Inflation dropped significantly enough for the Federal Reserve to do so cutting the federal funds rate by half a percentage point last month.
“If it’s just a week, there will be short-term disruptions again and things may take a little longer to get back to the level we’re planning. This may pose a risk to perishable items,” she added.
She said supply chain issues that impacted retail prices early in the pandemic may have prepared businesses for some disruption, which could mitigate some of the impact on consumers in the compact term.
“We are in a very unique situation because we have just had a major supply chain disruption that has caused many U.S. companies to make contingency plans in a way that they have not done in the past. We have creativity and more flexibility that will help us if it’s just a short disruption,” she said. “We still have elevated inventories in some sectors, so there may be a little bit more of a buffer to get some goods to where they’re going.”
In addition to the economic impact on consumers, strikes may have spillover effects on other groups of workers. If longshoremen win a solid contract as a result of this strike, it could have an impact on other industries. Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, an associate professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University and former deputy assistant secretary for research and evaluation at the U.S. Department of Labor, said the success of the auto workers’ strikes and the Hollywood strikes may have emboldened union longshoremen.
“I think it’s likely that other industries, especially those most closely related to, um, transportation and logistics, will really take the lead in this regard, especially if the economic and political environment continues to be favorable for them,” Hertel said Fernandez.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce did just that he called the Biden administration invoked the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows presidents to intervene during strikes if it causes a national emergency. President Joe Biden has said he has no plans to do so.
Biden’s position is unlikely to change, Hertel-Fernandez said, because of the politics of the moment.
“I think if they did that, you would see a pretty negative reaction from the labor movement,” he said. “Given the election is so close and jobs are such an important issue for Democrats, it is unlikely they will do so.”
Bonamo reported in Elizabeth for the New Jersey Monitor, part of States Newsroom. Quinlan reported from Washington.
