Dockworkers strike, shutting eastern ports

Harold Daggett, president of the International Longshoremen's Association, rallies union members as they begin strike

(Image credit: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

What happened

Some 45,000 International Longshoremen's Association union members went on strike at midnight Tuesday morning, shutting down ports from Maine to Texas. The ILA's first strike since 1977 "threatens to rattle the American economy five weeks ahead of the presidential election," The Wall Street Journal said. The affected ports handle more than half of U.S. trade in cargo containers.

Who said what

The ILA and U.S. Maritime Alliance, representing ports, have been at an impasse on a new contract for months. The union asked for a 77% raise over six years and the maritime companies said yesterday they raised their offer to 50%, with restrictions on crane, gate and transport automation intact. ILA members "make a base salary of about $81,000 per year, but some can pull in over $200,000" with overtime, The Associated Press said. The union said its members work long hours in "often harsh or dangerous conditions," The New York Times said, and their wages haven't kept up with inflation or ballooning shipping profits.

"Nothing's going to move without us — nothing," ILA President Harold Daggett told striking workers in New Jersey early Tuesday morning. President Joe Biden said Sunday he would not use his powers under the Taft-Hartley Act to force the union back to work.

What next?

The White House says it's "confident supply chains can weather the strike, at least for a while," a view "shared by independent analysts," The Washington Post said. Many importers have stockpiled holiday goods and other nonperishable items, and West Coast port workers, represented by a different union, are still working, as are oil and gas terminals.

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.