Union bosses strike at US ports: ‘I don’t play games’

Major U.S. ports will close until wage demands are met, the union boss representing striking dock workers said.

Harold Daggett, head of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), gave the oath on a picket line in New Jersey on Tuesday, as tens of thousands of dock workers on the East Coast and the region protest to win a better labor agreement.

“We will fight for it and we will win or this port will never reopen,” he said. “I don’t play games here.”

Businesses are bracing for the possibility of extended port closures, which threaten to wreak havoc on global trade and the US economy.

President Joe Biden has so far rejected calls from some of the country’s largest business groups to use federal power to reopen ports in 80 days, calling off the strike to give it time to stop. for further negotiation.

“It’s only fair that workers, who have been at risk during the pandemic to keep ports open, also see their wages increase dramatically,” Biden said.

“Now is not the time for ocean carriers to refuse to negotiate fair wages for these essential workers while raking in record profits.”

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump also supports a strike by port workers.

“American workers can negotiate for better wages, especially since shipping companies are mostly foreign-flagged vessels,” he said in a statement.

The strike, the ILA’s first since 1977, halted container shipping across 14 of the country’s busiest ports, including New York, Georgia and Texas.

These ports are estimated by experts to handle more than one-third of US import and export goods. Disruptions could lead to delays in deliveries to businesses and consumers.

The president said officials will be alert for signs of unfair price increases in the event of possible shortages.

Negotiations on a new agreement had stalled for months before the strike, but the United States Maritime Union (USMX), which represents shipping companies and port associations, said the two sides has started making commercial proposals again.

Under the 2018 contract that expired Monday, dock workers earned a base hourly wage of $20-$39, as well as other benefits, including royalties related to container traffic.

USMX said its most recent offer would increase wages by nearly 50%, triple company contributions to pension funds and improve health care, among other concessions.

The organization said the offer exceeded “every other recent union settlement agreement” and called the current impasse “completely inevitable.”

“We look forward to hearing from the union on how we can return to the negotiating table and actually negotiate, which is the only way to reach a solution,” it said.

However, the ILA’s Mr Daggett said that so far there had been “nothing” to bring the union and companies together to end the strike.

He said he was willing to close the ports until the companies agreed to increase hourly wages by $5 for each year of the contract. The union, which has about 47,000 active members according to federal records, is also seeking protections against automation.

“I will fight for it because those greedy companies are making billions of dollars and they don’t want to share,” he said. “I want my members to be cared for for the rest of their lives and that’s why we’re here.”

If prolonged, the shutdown is expected to lead to higher prices and shortages in the US, with shipping delays and other impacts spreading around the world.

“We are now seeing ships starting to anchor outside the port,” said Anne-Sophie Fribourg, vice president of freight forwarder Zencargo, which organizes shipments for exporters and importers. to wait and see what happens.”

“The disruption will be huge if the strike is prolonged,” she said.

Hamid Moghadam, chief executive of Prologis, one of the world’s largest warehousing companies and owner of the likes of Amazon, said the strike was not a shock but would “nonetheless” harm the economy.

“It will hinder the normal functioning of the flow of goods,” he told the BBC.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said there are currently 100,000 containers waiting to be unloaded in the New York area and another 35 ships are expected to arrive this week.

Danny Reynolds, owner of Stephenson’s, a 93-year-old clothing store in Elkhart, Indiana, said he paid extra to expedite shipments of sweaters and coats into the country before the strike.

But about 25% of his inventory has yet to arrive and he suspects it has been unloaded. He said he’s most worried about potential delivery dates for special-order bridal gowns for weddings in November and December.

“What we are concerned about is where we have special-order items for people’s weddings that could be locked up on a ship that can’t get to us,” he said. That’s a difficult thing to explain to a potential bride.”

About 75% of his goods are shipped through east coast ports, he added. He explained that while he expected his business to be able to operate through the end of the year, he feared there would be a wider impact.

“I think the results for the economy could be devastating if this continues,” he suggested, adding that he would like to see the president step in.

“Frankly, I think it’s past time for the Biden administration to sit down with them and see what can’t be done to reopen these things.”