The dockworkers’ strike that was expected to disrupt the supply lines of restaurants and other industries for the foreseeable future has been called off after just two days, with labor and management coming to an agreement on a pay increase.
Other issues remain unresolved, but the parties agreed to resume negotiations, setting a deadline for reaching a new labor pact by Jan. 15. Until then, the umbrella contract in effect until the strike commenced at 12:01 Monday night is being honored again.
“Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the master contract will resume,” the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) said in a post on its website.
The quick resolution was a surprise. The prevailing expectation was that the strike would run for two to three weeks.
But the effects of the work stoppage were already being felt. Dozens of ships piled high with shipping containers were idling off the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts because there was no one to receive and unload the ships at the 36 ports where they were hoping to berth. If more ships should arrive, experts warned, the backlog would take weeks to resolve.
Wholesale buyers may not have yet felt the squeeze because importers and warehousers had stockpiled supplies in anticipation of the strike. But supply chains were already being scrambled.
Some ships re-routed themselves to smaller ports that were unaffected by the strike and dumped their cargo ashore, bringing chaos to the docks. Parties meant to receive the goods had to first discover where the shipments had gone, then find a way to ship them via truck or train. Prices were poised to soar because the unexpected change in routes brought unexpected surcharges and fees.
President Biden said the strike threatened to leave areas devastated by Hurricane Helene without supplies that were critical to recovery efforts. He called the parties patriotic for coming to a tentative agreement.
“I congratulate the dockworkers from the ILA, who deserve a strong contract after sacrificing so much to keep our ports open during the pandemic,” Biden said in a statement issued minutes after the labor accord was announced. “And I applaud the port operators and carriers who are members of the US Maritime Alliance for working hard and putting a strong offer on the table.”
Earlier Thursday, restaurant-industry groups like the National Restaurant Association, the International Franchise Association and the International Foodservice Distributors Association joined more than 250 other trade organizations in calling on Biden via letter to intercede in the negotiations and end the strike. They warned that the port shutdowns would cost their constituents billions of dollars per day in lost business.
Details of the new pay agreement were not revealed by the negotiating parties. The ILA had been seeking a 77% wage increase over a six-year stretch.
Media reports quoted sources privy to the negotiations as saying the union did not win a pay hike of that scale but was offered considerably more than an employer consortium known as the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) had originally tendered.
The White House had indicated before the strike that it would not intercede in the negotiations, but Biden and Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su had pointedly voiced assertions afterward that the employers were being too tight-fisted.
The 36 ports affected by the walkout of 45,000 longshoremen are the points of entry for roughly 60% of U.S. food imports. They are also the usual receiving areas for prefabricated stainless-steel products, possibly including kitchen equipment, and components for a wide range of machinery.
Early reports indicated that at least 100 shipping containers packed with coffee were on the ships anchored at sea, waiting to be unloaded.
Severe disruptions were expected in particular in shipments of bananas, since most of the nation’s supplies come in through the affected ports and the perishable fruit doesn’t travel well in planes.
This story first appeared in Restaurant Business.
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