US eastern ports brace themselves for shutdown

Stalemate in talks between dock workers and employers sets the stage for a strike

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Key industry and government officials are urging US dock workers and their employers to avoid a strike at US East and Gulf coast ports this week, though many facilities are already bracing themselves for a shutdown.

“We are coordinating with partners across the supply chain to prepare for any potential impacts,” said Mr Steve Burns, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the nation’s busiest Atlantic gateway for containers. “We urge both sides to find common ground and keep the cargo flowing for the good of the national economy.”

The US Maritime Alliance, a group representing ocean carriers and port terminal operators, and the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) have no talks planned before their contract expires at the end of Sept 30.

US President Joe Biden said on Sept 29 he would not intervene in any dock workers’ strike. Resolving the dispute is a matter for collective bargaining, he told reporters in Delaware.

The stalemate sets the stage for a strike to start on Oct 1, forcing ports with the combined capacity to handle as much as half of all US trade volumes to halt container cargo and auto shipments.

To help break the impasse, the Biden administration summoned USMX, as the employer group is known, to the White House on Sept 27 for a meeting with senior officials to urge a return to negotiations, and said it had been in touch with the union to deliver the same message.