By: Staff Writer
October 4, 2024
Caribbean countries can breathe a sigh of relief now that the US dockworker strike has come to a halt for the time being.
Tens of thousands of dockworkers went on strike from Savannah to Maine on Tuesday to demand higher wages and a ban on all automation at ports in a move that could snarl supply chains only a month ahead of the presidential election.
However, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) union and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents employers in the longshore industry, were unable to reach a new contract agreement but nonetheless have decided to call a halt to the strike on Friday, opting to suspend the strike until January 15.
This was the union’s first strike since 1977, when dockworkers stopped work for several weeks.
More than 500 union members gathered at the gates of Maher Terminals in Elizabeth, New Jersey early Tuesday for the start of the strike. Harold Daggett, International President of the ILA, rallied the crowd as he spoke at one of the main container terminal operators at Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal, an important facility for goods entering the New York Metropolitan area.
Ports in Florida, where most of the Caribbean’s supplies and food comes through, were shut down along with many other ports on the East Coast for the past three days. Thankfully, a short term settlement was reached that would allow the suspension of the strike action until January 15, to allow current negotiations on wages and automation to take their course.
The settlement pushes the strike and any potential shortages past the November presidential election, eliminating a potential liability for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. It’s also a big plus for the Biden-Harris administration, which has billed itself as the most union-friendly in American history. Shortages could have driven up prices and reignited inflation.
It will take a day or two for the ports to restart machinery and for ships waiting at sea to get to a berth, but even so, consumers aren’t likely to see any shortages because the strike was relatively short, said William Brucher, an assistant professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University who follows ports.