by WorldTribune Staff, September 30, 2024 Contract With Our Readers
Having already been staggered by blow after blow in the form of Biden-Harris economic policy, can the U.S. economy, at least in the East, withstand the one-two punch of Hurricane Helene and an East Coast port strike?
The devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm with 140-mph winds, is being felt across the southeast.
About 85,000 workers at 14 U.S. ports are set to go on strike at midnight on Oct. 1. / Video ImageEconomic losses could total up to $160 billion, according to a report from AccuWeather.
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“AccuWeather experts have continually monitored information related to Hurricane Helene from a variety of sources, and, unfortunately, upon early surveying of the scale of damage to homes and businesses, the extensive loss of life, injuries, evacuations, rescues and widespread power outages which are likely to last at least weeks in some areas and other factors, we were compelled to increase our estimate,” AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jon Porter said in an advisory.
While delivering remarks to volunteers and victims of Helene, Donald Trump revealed he had spoken to Elon Musk and asked him to hook up Starlink services in hurricane-hit towns.
Trump shared, “We want to get Starlink hooked up, because they have no communication whatsoever. We’re going to try to get the Starlink in there as soon as possible because they have no communication. And throughout the region, our hearts are with you, and we are going to be with you as long as you need it.”
Meanwhile, trucking companies and freight rail operators rushed to move billions of dollars in trade that has been arriving at the 14 ports where the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), the largest longshoremen’s union in North America, is planning to strike after midnight Monday if a new contract is not reached with ports management.
CNBC reported that, on average, it takes one week to clear out one day of a port closure. As much as 43% to 49% of total containerized goods entering the U.S are processed through ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast.
Michael Kanko, CEO of ImportGenius, told CNBC the economic importance of the ports impacted by an ILA strike is profound. “As our data shows, a strike of even a week will block the flow of hundreds of thousands of containers into the U.S.,” he said. “These ports are also a major gateway into the U.S. for refrigerated produce. Time isn’t on the side of importers.”
The ILA has said its 85,000 members, “joined in solidarity by tens of thousands of dockworkers and maritime workers around the world,” will hit the picket lines at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 1, and strike at all Atlantic and Gulf coast ports from Maine to Texas.
Approximately 50,000 ILA union members work at the ports of Boston, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Wilmington, North Carolina, Baltimore, Norfolk, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida, Tampa, Florida, Miami, New Orleans, Mobile, Alabama, and Houston.
No negotiations were underway and none were planned before the Monday deadline, according to a Reuters report.
The Biden-Harris administration has said it will not use federal powers to force dock workers to remain on the job. “We’ve never invoked Taft-Hartley to break a strike and are not considering doing so now,” White House officials have said.
The Taft-Hartley Act, passed in 1947, was a revision of U.S. law governing labor relations and union activity that granted a U.S. president the power to suspend a strike for an 80-day “cooling off period” in cases where “national health or safety” are at risk.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a poll on Monday morning showing that a majority of both registered voters (58%) and the general population (54%) support the Biden-Harris administration intervening and ordering the union to work and negotiate through the use of Taft-Hartley. Roughly 20% of respondents said they were opposed to federal intervention.
On Monday, the U.S. Chamber officially called on President Biden to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act.
Biden recently told reporters that he “did not like” Taft-Hartley.
Walmart is the largest importer across all of the threatened ports, according to ImportGenius data, followed by Ikea and Samsung.
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October Surprise? Port strike, Hurricane Helene threatens widespread disruptions added by Editor Two on September 30, 2024
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