There were long lines of container ships outside major US ports yesterday as the biggest dockworker strike in nearly half a century entered its third day, preventing unloading and threatening shortages of everything from bananas to auto parts.
No negotiations were scheduled between the International Longshoremen’s Association and employers, but the port owners, under pressure from the White House to hike their pay offer to land a deal, signaled late on Wednesday that they were open to new talks.
At least 45 container vessels that had been unable to unload had anchored up outside the strike-stricken east coast and gulf coast ports by Wednesday, up from just three on Sunday, before the strike began on Tuesday, Everstream Analytics said.
Photo: AFP
“Many seem to have decided to wait it out, possibly in hopes of a prompt resolution to the strike action, rather than taking the proactive decision to divert,” Everstream’s Jena Santoro said in a video presentation.
The vessel backlog could double by the end of the week and the resulting congestion could take weeks, if not months, to clear, Santoro said.
One alternative would be to sail to west coast ports on the other side of the country, likely using the Panama Canal, a journey of thousands of kilometers that would hike costs and add weeks to delivery times.
The union launched its strike by 45,000 port workers from Maine to Texas, its first major stoppage since 1977, after talks for a new six-year contract with the US Maritime Alliance employer group broke down.
The union is seeking a big pay raise along with commitments to halt port automation projects that it fears would kill jobs.
The alliance had offered a 50 percent pay bump, but the association said it was insufficient to address its concerns.
“Reaching an agreement will require negotiating,” the alliance said late on Wednesday. “We cannot agree to preconditions to return to bargaining, but we remain committed to bargaining in good faith.”
US President Joe Biden’s administration has sided with the union, heaping pressure on the port employers to raise their offer to secure a deal and citing the shipping industry’s bumper profits since the COVID-19 pandemic.
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