Global supply chain at risk as US dockworker strike looms

Move would lead to shipment delays, supply shortfalls and affect freight costs

- Kang Wan Chern

The year-end festive cheer could be under threat as a major dockworker strike looms in the US, putting the global supply chain at risk of further disruptions.

The repercussions of the industrial action, if it comes to pass, will spread beyond US shores, with Singapore businesses and consumers at risk of delays and supply shortfalls ahead of the holiday season.

With less than a week before the current agreement expires on Sept 30, contract negotiations between the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) remain at an impasse.

The ILA, which represents dockworkers in the US east and Gulf coasts, has said work will cease at ports there unless a new contract with the USMX incorporating its demands for better wages for dockworkers and anti-automation measures is inked before the current six-year contract expires.

Around 45,000 workers could now go on strike from Oct 1 if their demands are not met, a move that would close all east coast and Gulf of Mexico ports, including the Port of New York and New Jersey, the second-busiest port in the country after Los Angeles, which is on the west coast.

That could cripple hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of trade and bring logistics to a standstill just months before Christmas.

From September 2023 to August 2024, the east and Gulf coast ports handled approximately 54 per cent of US imports, according to official data.

Vice-president for maritime and trade at S&P Global Market Intelligence Peter Tirschwell noted that port closures beyond a few days will cause significant backups of ships, trains, trucks and cargo.

"Any strike beyond a few days will take weeks for the system to fully recover, while a strike of a few weeks would take months to fully restore fluidity to the supply chain."