The US dockworker strike gripping east coast and Gulf coast container terminals may not be short-lived given the wide gap between union demands and the offer from an alliance of containership owners, terminal operators and port associations.
The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) said its latest proposal for a 50pc wage increase, made on 30 September just before the strike started, "exceeds every other recent union settlement while addressing inflation".
But the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) rebuked USMX's characterization of the offer late Tuesday, saying it fails to address the many years it takes for the port workers it represents to realize the higher wages, and factors like workers being on unpaid on-call status. The last-minute timing of the 50pc wage increase offer itself undermines the USMX's position as good faith negotiators, ILA said.
"[The] USMX's claim that they are ready to bargain rings hollow when they waited until the eve of the potential strike to present this offer," the ILA said. "The last offer from [the] USMX was back in February 2023."
Dockworkers started to picket container terminals in New England, New York, New Jersey, Houston, Texas, New Orleans, Louisiana, and other locations on 1 October. Containership loading and unloading has come to a halt at those terminals, while no trucks where queued at unmanned loading checkpoints.
The union has pointed to a perceived unfairness in record profits reported by shipping companies since the Covid-19 pandemic not being shared with ILA members who were "keeping ports open and the economy moving" during that time.
The union is also sticking to demands for no new automation technology at US ports that would replace workers, describing this position as "non-negotiable", and the right to 100pc of the "container royalties" funds, a type of welfare paid out by employers to protect US longshoremen from the loss of work brought on by the containerization of cargo.
No fed intervention expected
US president Joe Biden continued to indicate the federal government would not intervene in the strike, saying collective bargaining between the ILA and the USMX is the best way for workers to achieve their goals. In a statement this week Biden also pointed out that the USMX "represents a group of foreign-owned [ocean] carriers" and insisted that they should "present a fair offer" to the ILA.
"It is time for [the] USMX to negotiate a fair contract with the longshoremen that reflects the substantial contribution they've been making to our economic comeback," Biden said.
Vice-president Kamala Harris, who is running to replace Biden, doubled-down on that position today.
"This strike is about fairness," Harris said in a statement. "Foreign-owned shipping companies have made record profits and executive compensation has grown. The Longshoremen, who play a vital role transporting essential goods across America, deserve a fair share of these record profits."
Few commodities curtailed for now
Ports and the companies that rely on them have been anticipating the strike for many weeks. Movements of dry bulk cargo, such as coal and grains, are expected to be less affected by the work stoppage, though there could be side effects from the congestion of other products being rerouted to ports not affected by the strike.
Movement of crude, refined products and many petrochemicals are not expected to be interrupted, but some polymers that are moved by container, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene (PE), and polypropylene (PP), could be disrupted.
A segment of US steel imports could also be disrupted by the strike, as about 9pc of those imports come in via containers, according to data from Global Trade Tracker. A prolonged strike could begin to curtail some downstream manufacturing of equipment that requires parts that move by containers.
