Workers paralyze 36 US East Coast ports

Port workers on the East Coast and Gulf Coast of the United States went on strike this Tuesday (1), stopping services in at least 36 ports. The strike disrupts the country’s flow of imports and exports and could become the most disruptive strike in decades.

The movement could have repercussions on the world’s largest economy and cause political turmoil just weeks before the presidential election.

The 36 affected ports have the combined capacity to handle up to half of all U.S. trade volume, and the shutdowns immediately halt container operations and automobile shipments. Energy supplies and bulk cargo will not be directly affected. Some exceptions will be made to allow the movement of military assets and cruise ships.

According to analysts, it will cost the economy around US$5 billion (R$27.32 billion) per day, and should fuel product inflation.

The ILA union (International Longshoremen’s Association), which represents 45,000 port workers, was negotiating with the employers’ group USMX (United States Maritime Alliance) a new six-year contract ahead of schedule. late September 30th at midnight.

The ILA said in a statement on Tuesday that it closed all ports from Maine to Texas at 00:01 (local time) and rejected USMX’s final proposal made on Monday (30), adding that the offer fell “far short of requirements of its members to ratify a new contract”.

ILA leader Harold Daggett said employers have not offered adequate pay rises or agreed to demands to halt port automation projects. USMX said in a statement on Monday that it had offered a pay increase of nearly 50%, up from a previous proposal.

“We are prepared to fight as long as it takes, to stay on strike as long as it takes, to get the wages and protections against automation that our members deserve,” Daggett said Tuesday.

“USMX owns this strike now. Now they need to meet our demands for the strike to end.”

Port workers are just the latest unionized group to support their demands for better contracts by stopping work, demonstrating their value to both the national economy and their employers’ bottom line.

Unions representing autoworkers, actors, hotel maids and aircraft assemblers have also called strikes in recent months. Union members argued that they have made the sacrifices required by their companies during the pandemic and difficult economic times, and now is the time to make up for it, especially after several years of high inflation.

Between 2022 and 2023, the number of strikes increased by 9%, with a total of 466 strikes and four lockouts, according to figures provided by Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. However, the number of workers involved in strikes, approximately 539,000, was more than double the previous year, according to university research.