Roughly 25,000 dock workers went on strike Tuesday, leaving ports stretching from Maine to Texas unable to move containers of poultry, soybeans, animal feed, cotton, meat, bananas and other agricultural products onto and off of ships.
Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, which has for months raised the threat of a strike amid disagreements with a coalition of maritime employers over wage increases and future use of automation at ports, began forming picket lines at East and Gulf Coast ports at 12 a.m. Tuesday morning.
"We are prepared to fight as long as necessary, to stay out on strike for whatever period of time it takes to get our wages and protections against automation our ILA members deserve," ILA president Harold Daggett said in a statement that the organization posted on its Facebook page.
The ports of Virginia, Houston, Savannah, New York, and New Jersey had all halted container-related operations by the end of the day on Monday. In addition, two railroads — Norfolk Southern and CSX — have temporarily embargoed shipments to some East Coast ports.
The strike gives life to agricultural shippers’ fears of a disruption that could hinder the flow of containerized agricultural product shipments to other countries at a critical point in the year for farmers. Approximately 40% of U.S. containerized agricultural exports move through East and Gulf Coast ports, agricultural groups told President Joe Biden in a letter last week.
“[If] containers are the majority of your export business and the majority of that’s going through the East Coast, you’re now in a really tough situation,” National Grain and Feed Association President Mike Seyfert told Agri-Pulse on Monday. “Your supply chain’s been shut down — the supply chain you built your operation around — and now you’ve got to try and find an alternative market. That’s not always an easy thing to turn on a dime to do.”
Poultry was the largest U.S. agricultural export sent by container through 14 major East and Gulf Coast ports, according to an Agri-Pulse analysis of USDA data.
American Farm Bureau Federation economist Daniel Munch noted in a blog post last week that East Coast ports handle 78% of waterborne poultry exports.
East and Gulf Coast ports are also important junctions for exports of raw cotton, animal feed, soybeans and meats and imports of bananas, beverages, grocery items, fruit and wine. Munch estimated that the strike could have a $1.4 billion impact on containerized agricultural exports and imports for each week it goes on.
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Agricultural shippers have already felt the effects. Seyfert told Agri-Pulse many shipping companies stopped taking bookings for agricultural products on Wednesday or Thursday of last week in anticipation of the strike. Members of his organization have instead been diverting their products to West coast or Canadian ports, which has placed added stress on rail lines and comes with added costs.
On Monday evening, the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents container carriers, marine terminal operators and port associations, showed flexibility on some of its previous terms, announcing it would consider a 50% wage increase along with a commitment to triple employer contributions to employee retirement plans and stronger health care options, according to a release.
Despite ILA’s requests for complete bans on automation and semi-automation, USMX has so far only offered a commitment to halt the use of fully automated terminals. It still wants to allow some semi-automated equipment if both parties can agree on appropriate workforce protections and staffing levels.
The union rejected the offer Monday, saying it "fell short of what ILA rank-and-file members are demanding in wages and protections against automation," according to a release.
Agricultural groups and retailers, in letters, previously urged the Biden Administration to force both parties to return to the negotiating table to iron out an agreement, warning that a strike’s impact on the supply chain “will quickly reverberate throughout the agricultural economy, shutting down operations and potentially lowering farm gate prices.”
Biden does have power to halt the strike. The Taft-Hartley Act gives him authority to seek an injunction against strikes or lockouts that “imperil the national health or safety.” The power was once utilized by George Bush to reopen 29 West Coast ports after a 2002 lockout.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters Saturday that the Biden administration has been urging ILA and USMX to reach agreement. He added that he and other administration officials would “figure out ways in which we can be as helpful as we can” in the case of a strike.
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