PHILADELPHIA (AP) 鈥� A strike by dockworkers at 36 ports from Maine to Texas, the first in decades, could snarl supply chains and if it stretches on for more than a few weeks.
Workers began walking picket lines early Tuesday in even though progress had been reported in contract talks. The contract between the ports and about 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen鈥檚 Association expired at midnight.
The strike comes just weeks before the presidential election and could become a factor if there are shortages.
Workers at the Port of Philadelphia walked in a circle outside the port and chanted 鈥淣o work without a fair contract.鈥� The union, striking for the first time since 1977, had message boards on the side of a truck reading: 鈥淎utomation Hurts Families: ILA Stands For Job Protection.鈥�
Local ILA president Boise Butler said workers want a fair contract that doesn鈥檛 allow automation of their jobs.
Shipping companies made billions during the pandemic by charging high prices, he said. 鈥淣ow we want them to pay back. They鈥檙e going to pay back,鈥� Butler said.
He said the union will strike for as long as it needs to get a fair deal, and it has leverage over the companies.
鈥淭his is not something that you start and you stop,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e're not weak,鈥� he added, pointing to the union's importance to the nation's economy.
At Port Houston, at least 50 workers started picketing around midnight local time carrying signs saying 鈥淣o Work Without a Fair Contract."
The U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents the ports, said Monday evening that both sides had moved off of their previous wage offers. But no deal was reached.
The union鈥檚 opening offer in the talks was for over the six-year life of the contract, with President Harold Daggett saying it鈥檚 necessary to make up for inflation and years of small raises. ILA members make a base salary of about $81,000 per year, but some can pull in over $200,000 annually with large amounts of overtime.
Monday evening, the alliance said it had increased its offer to 50% raises over six years, and it pledged to keep limits on automation in place from the old contract. The alliance also said its offer tripled employer contributions to retirement plans and strengthened health care options.
The union wants a complete ban on automation. It wasn鈥檛 clear just how far apart both sides are.
In a statement early Tuesday, the union said it rejected the alliance's latest proposal because it 鈥渇ell far short of what ILA rank-and-file members are demanding in wages and protections against automation.鈥� The two sides had not held formal negotiations since June.
Supply chain experts say consumers won鈥檛 see an immediate impact from the strike because most retailers stocked up on goods, moving ahead shipments of holiday gift items.
But if it goes more than a few weeks, a work stoppage could lead to higher prices and delays in goods reaching households and businesses.
If drawn out, the strike will force businesses to pay shippers for delays and cause some goods to arrive late for peak holiday shopping season 鈥� potentially from toys and artificial Christmas trees to cars, coffee and fruit.
The strike will likely have an almost immediate impact on supplies of perishable imports like bananas, for example. The ports affected by the strike handle 3.8 million metric tons of bananas each year, or 75% of the nation鈥檚 supply, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
It also could snarl exports from East Coast ports and create traffic jams at ports on the West Coast, where workers are represented by a different union. Railroads say they can ramp up to carry more freight from the West Coast, but analysts say they can鈥檛 move enough to make up for the closed Eastern ports.
J.P. Morgan estimated that a strike that shuts down East and Gulf coast ports could cost the economy $3.8 billion to $4.5 billion per day, with some of that recovered over time after normal operations resume.
Retailers, auto parts suppliers and produce importers had hoped for a settlement or that President Joe Biden would using the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows him to seek an 80-day cooling off period.
But during an exchange with reporters on Sunday, Biden, who has worked to court union votes for Democrats, said 鈥渘o鈥� when asked if he planned to intervene in the potential work stoppage.
A White House official said Monday that at Biden鈥檚 direction, the administration has been in regular communication with the ILA and the alliance to keep the negotiations moving forward.
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Krisher in reported from Detroit. Associated Press journalists Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, Mae Anderson and Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York, Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit, Josh Boak in Washington, and Annie Mulligan in Houston contributed to this report.
Tom Krisher And Tassanee Vejpongsa, The Associated Press
