United States Bracing For Possible Maritime Strike

The U.S. industrial metals and wider manufacturing industries are bracing for a possible strike that could affect operations throughout the United States, if not all of North America. Indeed, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), which represents workers at three dozen U.S. ports from Maine to Texas that handle about half of the United States’ ocean imports, warned again last Tuesday that its members are prepared to stop work next week if they cannot reach a contract agreement with employers.

The deadline to resolve the impasse is Oct. 1, 2024.

The ILA is the largest union of maritime workers in North America and has been working to negotiate a new contract agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX). The union is arguing for better wages and continued protections for its workers in the face of automation and new technology in its terminals.

As Reuters reported, U.S. President Joe Biden has made it clear he does not intend to invoke federal law to prevent the strike. If the workers strike, manufacturing supply chains throughout the United States will be thrown into disarray.

To illustrate the extent of the potential damage, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has created an interactive map of ports that will be affected, featuring useful metrics like their total export value. NAM found these ports handle:

• 68 percent of all containerized exports and 56 percent of containerized imports, representing an average daily trade value of more than $2.1 billion;
• 91 percent of containerized imports and 69 percent of containerized exports of pharmaceutical products;
• 76 percent of containerized vehicle exports and 54 percent of containerized vehicle imports; and
• 77 percent of containerized exports and 51 percent of containerized imports of air and spacecraft.