By the SEMA Washington, D.C., office
SEMA is urging members who do business out of ports on the East and Gulf Coasts to immediately collect their items in shipping containers that might otherwise be impacted by a looming longshoreman strike. Industry officials believe a standstill in negotiations means a strike of approximately 45,000 dockworkers at every major port on the Eastern and Gulf Coasts is inevitable.
The threatened strike is expected to commence on Tuesday, October 1. To avoid issues, SEMA recommends collecting items waiting in containers before Monday, September 30, and paying attention to each port's specific instructions on collecting items. Some ports/terminals are offering extended gates to help cargo owners retrieve their goods.
Negotiations between the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) have been at a standstill since June; according to reports, there's still a significant gap in negotiations between the two sides. The union is advocating for an almost 80% raise over six years, highlighting workers' claim to a portion of the profits gained by foreign-owned container carriers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the USMX companies are hesitant to establish this precedent; their financial reserves would enable them to potentially prolong the negotiations.
If a strike does proceed, the flow of consumer goods, components for factories, and certain motor vehicles will seize up, disrupting auto supply chains and other manufacturing networks.
A September 17 letter to the Biden administration, spearheaded by the National Retail Federation and signed by SEMA and more than 177 other trade associations, is urging the Biden-Harris White House to intervene and help both parties return to the bargaining table to restart stalled negotiations.
"With two weeks left until the ILA-USMX contract expires and the ongoing threat of a coastwide strike beginning on October 1, it is imperative that the administration engage with the parties to quickly negotiate a new deal or agree to continue negotiations while keeping the ports open and cargo flowing," the organizations write. "A strike at this point in time would have a devastating impact on the economy, especially as inflation is on the downward trend."
For more information, contact Tiffany Cipoletti, SEMA's manager for federal government affairs, at tiffanyc@sema.org.