(BALTIMORE) — Union dockworkers at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports began walking picket lines early Tuesday, halting the movement of billions of dollars’ worth of goods including furniture, paper, shoes, manufacturing components, farm machinery and much more, NPR reported.
The pickets began just after midnight, after talks between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents ocean carriers and port operators, failed to yield a new contract.
“USMX brought on this strike when they decided to hold firm to foreign-owned ocean carriers earning billion-dollar profits at United States ports, but not compensate the American ILA longshore workers who perform the labor that brings them their wealth,” ILA President Harold Daggett said in a prepared statement released early Tuesday.
The two sides have not met face-to-face since June. They appear to be far apart on key issues. The alliance asked for an extension Monday, a request that went unanswered by the union.
Despite pressure from House Republicans and more than 170 industry groups, who warned that a strike will have a devastating impact on the economy, the Biden administration is standing firm in its decision to let the collective bargaining process play out.
“I don’t believe in Taft-Hartley,” President Biden told reporters on Sunday, citing the federal law that allows the president to call for an 80-day cooling off period when the nation’s safety is at risk.
How big an economic impact the strike will have depends on how long it lasts.
The strike affects work at 14 ports along the East and Gulf coasts, according to the U.S. Maritime Alliance. They are the Ports of Boston, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk, Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Mobile, New Orleans and Houston.
More than $2 billion worth of goods typically flow through these ports daily, from cars and clothing to bourbon and bananas.
That includes more than half of all cargo containers coming into the U.S., or about a million containers a month. It also includes more than three-quarters of the containers carrying exports out – about 327,000 per month – according to the freight-tracking company Vizion.
Those volumes dropped sharply in recent days in anticipation of the strike.
“If it goes on for weeks, it’s going to be a massive headache,” said Vizion CEO Kyle Henderson. “If it’s just days, it’s probably just a blip.”
