Port worker strike set to begin on Tuesday

September 30, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Share this:

NATIONWIDE — 45,000 WORKERS AT East Coast ports from Maine to Texas, including in New York harbor, are set to go on strike starting at midnight on Monday, reports CNBC, with no talks currently scheduled between the union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents shipping lines and ports. While a short-term work stoppage is thought to be unlikely to cause major disruption, as strike fears led some shippers to redirect traffic through West Coast ports, a longer shutdown could lead to massive supply chain impacts and potential economic losses of up to $5 billion a day. Union leadership is demanding pay increases and a halt to automation upgrades, describing current conditions as “a half-century of wage subjugation.” Last week the USMA sought a court order forcing the union back to the table, but no action was taken by late Monday, with the White House urging both parties to negotiate but declining to intervene.

“These people today don’t know what a strike is… I’ll cripple you. I will cripple you,” International Longshoremen’s Association head Harold Daggett said in a recent social media post.

✰✰✰