A U.S. dockworkers’ strike impacting major ports from Maine to Texas began Tuesday, that is expected to pose a major threat to the supply chain for much of the East and Gulf Coasts of the country.
As of Tuesday, 36 coast ports have shut down as 45,000 union workers walked off the job when labor negotiations stalled between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX).
Consumers are likely to feel shortages and delays on bananas, cherries, canned food, hot peppers, grapes, avocadoes, seafood, chocolate, and alcohol products. Shoes, car parts, and pharmaceuticals are also expected to be in short supply.
Consumers can also expect higher prices on goods facing shipping issues.
The strike is expected to cost the economy up to $5 billion a day and stress voters who are already experiencing frustrations with inflation.
Rhetoric from ILA leadership had been aggressive in the weeks leading up to the strike, with ILA President Harold Daggett, who was a union member the last time it went out on strike in 1977, telling rank-and-file members — who unanimously voted to authorize a strike — in a recent video message, “We’ll crush them.”
Shana Wray, principal solutions architect for supply chain intelligence firm FourKites, tells CNBC the strike comes at the worst possible time, with its impact on supply chain congestion to exacerbate the devastation left behind from Hurricane Helene.
