President-elect Donald Trump could be facing a fairly large crisis on his hands — as if he didn’t have enough being left to him to deal with from the current administration — when he takes office in a few weeks, as a potential dockworker strike is brewing and it could be a costly one, particularly for those who own small businesses. One thing’s for sure. If this rumors of this strike come to fruition before he takes office, you can guarantee President Joe Biden won’t lift a finger to help solve the problem. In fact, he’ll probably look for a way he can complicate the matter for the incoming administration.
A piece published by right-leaning news outlet The Daily Caller, “The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), which represents 47,000 workers, is planning to strike on Jan. 15 after a short three-day strike in October, where the union secured a 62% pay raise over six years from United States Maritime Alliance (USMX). However, negotiations concerning port automation with shipping companies continue to stall, and industry giant Maersk said there have been no new developments, according to Bloomberg Tuesday.”
“The conditional agreement on wages is set to expire on January 15. If no agreement is reached by that date, a coast-wide strike on Jan. 16 is possible. However, the negotiations have had no new developments since our last communication,” Maersk went on to explain Tuesday in a customer advisory. “Considering the status, we strongly encourage our customers to pick up their laden containers and return empty containers at U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports before January 15. This proactive measure will help mitigate any potential disruptions at the terminals.”
The last strike was three days long last October, but it wreaked havoc economically speaking, costing a whopping $5 billion per day. Yikes. Brent Sadler, senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation, explained that a new strike would be extremely hard for small businesses, even though they probably won’t feel its effects until later.
“If you’re a small company and you’re waiting for bulk supply and materials to arrive in for your small or medium sized factory, you might have an economic impact that’s pretty severe, and I don’t think that’s good for anyone,” Sadler remarked in a conversation with the outlet.
The strike is likely to happen, according to Sadler, and would certainly create backlogs on east coast ports. Negotiations between the ILA and shipping companies are set to resume Jan. 7, according to FreightWaves.
“What you very likely will see, at least in the East Coast ports, is a backlog of ships at anchor. A week backlog is going to take you probably two or three weeks clear,” Sadler added. “So the shippers will then start to redirect their ships to other ports, like the West Coast, adding more economic cost.”
“There has been a lot of discussion having to do with ‘automation on United States docks,” President Trump said in a post that was shared on Truth Social Dec. 12. “I’ve studied automation and know just about everything there is to know about it. The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen. Foreign companies have made a fortune in the U.S. by giving them access to our markets. They shouldn’t be looking for every last penny knowing how many families are hurt.”
A 2021 International Transportation Forum study found no compelling relationship between port automation and efficiency. The U.S. Government Accountability Office, while finding some increase in efficiency, also found “mixed effects on the workforce, security, and performance,” according to a March 2024 study. Chinese companies like China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) are part of the USMX, allowing them to hold leverage over negotiations to a degree. Experts previously told the DCNF that China’s potential involvement could present a national security risk.
A 2021 International Transportation Forum study found no compelling relationship between port automation and efficiency. The U.S. Government Accountability Office, while finding some increase in efficiency, also found “mixed effects on the workforce, security, and performance,” according to a March 2024 study. Chinese companies like China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) are part of the USMX, allowing them to hold leverage over negotiations to a degree. Experts previously told the DCNF that China’s potential involvement could present a national security risk.
Watson explained that a lot of long-time Republicans would assume that a GOP administration would be supportive of independent work and against labor unions, however that’s not exactly accurate when it comes to the president-elect. he then said that some of the union bosses are quickly figuring out how to engage with populist Republicans like Trump.
Other unions have appeared to soften on Trump or outright voice support, such as the New York City Police Benevolent Association and the National Border Patrol Council. Most notably, The International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to endorse a candidate in 2024 after polls showed the rank-and-file mostly supported him despite the union having a long history of Democratic endorsements.
Trump could take a cue from former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who faced a similar situation with coal mining unions. Rather than fight against them, she gave into their demands and then stockpiled a bunch of coal so that there would be stores of it available in case of future strikes. That’s smart.
“They may have to give the Longshoremen more than they would like to give so that they can then prepare for the next and that’s assuming that they aren’t Biden-style stooges for the longshoremen, which I don’t know,” Watson said to the DCNF. “The thing about Trump, because he’s so non-ideological as a figure, is that you can never be certain.”