US dockworkers strike, threatening economic disruption before presidential election

Dockworkers on the US East and Gulf coasts went on strike after failing to reach a new contract deal with port owners – a major industrial action that threatens to disrupt shipping and cost the US economy billions of dollars just weeks out from the presidential election.

A six-year contract between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the US Maritime Alliance (USMX) expired at midnight on Monday.

A strike, affecting 36 ports, would be the ILA’s first since 1977. The association, which represents 45,000 dockworkers, threatened to shut down some of the country’s main trade gateways to secure a bigger slice of higher freight rates – caused in part by Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea.

Hours before the deadline, the US Chamber of Commerce called on US President Joe Biden to intervene.

“Americans experienced the pain of delays and shortages of goods during the pandemic-era supply chain backlogs in 2021. It would be unconscionable to allow a contract dispute to inflict such a shock to our economy,” the chamber contended.