US Ports Strike Causes First Shutdown in 50 Years

• Tens of thousands of dockworkers have gone on strike indefinitely at ports across much of the US, threatening significant trade and economic disruption ahead of the presidential election and the busy holiday shopping season. Members of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) walked out on Tuesday at 14 major ports along the East and Gulf coasts, halting container traffic from Maine to Texas.
• President Joe Biden has the power to suspend the strike for 80 days for further negotiations, but the White House has said he is not planning to act. The White House said that President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were monitoring the strike closely. "The President has directed his team to convey his message directly to both sides that they need to be at the table and negotiating in good faith - fairly and quickly."
• Union boss Harold Daggett has called for significant pay increases for his members, while voicing concerns about threats from automation. He has indicated the union wants to see per-hour pay increase by five dollars per year over the life of the six-year deal, which he estimated amounted to about 10% per year.
• Time-sensitive imports, such as food, are likely to be among the goods first impacted. The ports involved handle about 14% of agricultural exports shipped by sea and more than half of imports, including a significant share of trade in bananas and chocolate, according to the Farm Bureau. Other sectors exposed to disruption include tin, tobacco and nicotine, Oxford Economics said. Clothing and footwear firms, and European carmakers, which route many of their shipments through the Port of Baltimore, will also take a hit.
• More than a third of exports and imports could be affected by the strike, hitting US economic growth to the tune of at least $4.5bn each week of the strike, according to Grace Zemmer, an associate US economist at Oxford Economics, though others have estimated the economic hit could be higher. She said more than 100,000 people could find themselves temporarily out of work as the impact of the stoppage spreads.

(Source: BBC)