NEW YORK — Long lines of container ships formed outside major U.S. ports on Thursday, blocking unloading and turning bananas into auto parts, as the largest longshoremen’s strike in nearly half a century entered its third day. There was a risk of shortages of everything.
Negotiations between the International Longshoremen’s Association and employers had not been scheduled, but port owners called for new negotiations late Wednesday after pressure from the White House to increase their offer to reach an agreement. He showed an attitude of responding.
By Wednesday, at least 45 container ships were stuck outside strike-hit East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, according to Everstream Analytics, and the strike began Sunday. This is an increase from just three ships previously.
“Rather than making a proactive decision to change direction, many people are choosing to do so, perhaps hoping for a quick resolution to the strike action,” Everstream’s Jena Santoro said in a video presentation viewed by Reuters. It seems they have decided to wait.”
He said the backlog of ships could double by the end of this week and the resulting congestion could take weeks, if not months, to clear.
One alternative would be to sail to a West Coast port on the other side of the country, perhaps using the Panama Canal, but a journey of thousands of miles would increase costs and take weeks for delivery. It will be.
The ILA launches a strike by 45,000 longshoremen from Maine to Texas on Tuesday after negotiations for a new six-year contract with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) employers group broke down. This was the first major outage since 1977.
The ILA is calling for significant wage increases, along with a pledge to halt port automation projects over concerns that they will destroy jobs. USMX had proposed a 50% salary increase, but ILA argued it was insufficient to address concerns.
USMX said late Wednesday that “negotiations are necessary to reach an agreement.” “While we cannot agree on the preconditions for returning to negotiations, we will continue to engage in negotiations in good faith to meet the demands of the ILA and the concerns of the USMX.”
President Joe Biden’s administration is pressuring port employers to raise their offers to secure deals, citing the huge profits the shipping industry has made since the coronavirus pandemic. We are strong and stand by the union.
Economists say the port closures will not initially raise consumer prices as companies have accelerated shipments of key goods in recent months. But economists at Morgan Stanley say a prolonged shutdown will eventually sink in, with food prices likely to be the first to react.
The strike affects 36 ports, including New York, Baltimore and Houston, which handle a variety of containerized cargo.
The National Retail Federation on Wednesday joined 272 other trade groups in calling on the Biden administration to use federal authority to call off the strike, saying it could have “devastating consequences” for the economy. .
The Biden administration has repeatedly said it does not intend to use federal authority to halt the attack.
