In the USA, the largest port strike in 50 years: the country will lose billions of dollars every day
Dockers on the US East and South coasts went on strike on Tuesday, the first major work stoppage in nearly 50 years, halting roughly half of the nation’s shipping.
This is reported by the Reuters agency.
The strike is blocking everything from food to cars at dozens of ports from Maine to Texas. Analysts warn it will cost the economy billions of dollars every day, threaten jobs and fuel inflation.
The International Dockers Association (ILA), the union that represents 45,000 dock workers, was in talks with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) employers’ group on a new six-year contract until a September 30 midnight deadline.
On Tuesday, the ILA said it had shut down all ports from Maine to Texas at 12:01 a.m. local time (04:01 GMT) and rejected the USMX’s latest proposal, submitted on Monday, saying it “falls far short of members’ requirements for approval of a new contract”.
ILA leader Harold Daggett said employers such as container shipping operator Maersk and its unit APM Terminals North America had not offered corresponding wage increases and had not agreed to stop port automation projects.
“We are prepared to fight as long as it takes, to stay on strike as long as it takes, to get the wages and protections against automation that our ILA members deserve,” Daggett said Tuesday. “The responsibility for the strike now rests with USMX. They must meet our demands to end the strike.”
The ILA strike, the first since 1977, is causing concern for businesses across the economy that depend on shipping to export goods or receive critical imports. It affects 36 ports handling a wide range of containerized goods, from bananas to clothes and cars.
“We expect the strike itself to last five to seven days before the government intervenes… But its effects will be felt across networks as far as Europe and Asia at least until January or February,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst at the platform at Xeneta shipping pricing. He also noted that freight rates on transatlantic routes have now increased by almost 20%.
According to JPMorgan Chase & Co, economic losses from port closures will be between $3.8 billion and $4.5 billion per day.
