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Dock strike threatens economy before election and holidays

At a minute past midnight Tuesday morning, the clock started ticking on one of America’s most potentially consequential and disruptive strikes in recent memory. Dockworkers walked off the job at America’s east coast and Gulf Coast ports from Boston to Houston. It was their first strike in almost 50 years.

Economically, the strike puts a hard stop on nearly half of America’s imports and a good share of exports. Politically, it puts Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in a bind with Election Day exactly five weeks away. 

Why We Wrote This

Workers unions have enjoyed a boost in popularity since the ’70s with the absence of major strikes. The new dockworker strike, which began on Tuesday, may challenge that popularity and test the Biden-Harris administration.

The 36 ports on strike, which employ some 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, handle a huge amount of America’s internationally traded goods: at least half of clothing, footwear, and agricultural imports coming in by ship. Other imports received at the ports include major slices of America’s imported cars, car parts, pharmaceutical ingredients, machinery, and fabricated steel. Ditto for exports, especially agricultural goods. 

The strike’s political impact will depend not only on its duration but also on how the presidential candidates respond. The White House said President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris were monitoring the strike’s impact on supply chains.

Former President Donald Trump, known for his anti-union rhetoric but wanting union member votes, is treading carefully as well. 

At a minute past midnight Tuesday morning, the clock started ticking on one of America’s most potentially consequential and disruptive strikes in recent memory. Dockworkers walked off the job at America’s east coast and Gulf Coast ports from Boston to Houston, their first work stoppage in almost 50 years.

Economically, the strike puts a hard stop on nearly half of America’s imports and a good share of exports. Politically, it puts Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in a bind with Election Day exactly five weeks away. Does she push the administration to step in and temporarily end the strike, angering her union base? Or does she work behind the scenes, hoping the two sides settle before consumers feel the pinch?

Such overarching strikes rarely last very long, labor historians say, because so much money is at stake that both sides are eager to settle. 

Why We Wrote This

Workers unions have enjoyed a boost in popularity since the ’70s with the absence of major strikes. The new dockworker strike, which began on Tuesday, may challenge that popularity and test the Biden-Harris administration.

But “If we’re talking about a monthlong strike where you do start to see actual things disappear from the shelves – like there’s shortages on Christmas goods – then I can see that as being a negative” for the vice president, says Erik Loomis, a labor historian at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston.

At the moment, neither pro-labor Vice President Harris nor President Joe Biden is signaling that they would use their executive powers, which allow them to impose an official 80-day cooling-off period in which strikers return to work to prevent stoppages that threaten the health or safety of the United States.

Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle/AP

Shipping container cranes are in the background as striking longshoremen protest Oct. 1, 2024, outside the Bayport Container Terminal in Seabrook, Texas. Members of the International Longshoreman’s Association voted to strike after their contract expired the night before.

Everything from clothing to cherry imports could be affected 

The ports on strike, which employ some 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, handle half or more of clothing, footwear, and agricultural imports coming in by ship, as well as a large portion of America’s imported cars, car parts, ingredients for making pharmaceuticals, machinery, fabricated steel and precision instruments. They also handle a substantial percentage of exports, especially agricultural goods. 

While most of these goods can be stored for months, that’s not the case for perishables like imported cherries (90% flow through these ports) or bananas (25%).

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