This impasse is injecting uncertainty into the U.S. economy at a sensitive time.
With the U.S. election just six weeks away, the economy is slowing and unemployment is rising.
This strike risks putting President Biden in an awkward situation.
The U.S. president can intervene in labor disputes that threaten national security or safety by imposing an 80-day cooling-off period and forcing workers to return to work while negotiations proceed.
In 2002, Republican President George W. Bush intervened to keep the ports open after an 11-day strike by West Coast dockworkers began.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce business group urged President Biden to take action.
“Americans have experienced the pain of product delays and shortages amid pandemic-era supply chain backlogs in 2021,” said Suzanne P. Clark, President and CEO. “It would be unconscionable to inflict such a shock on our economy due to contract disputes.” He said. Executive of the business group.
The ILA’s Mr. Daggett supported Democrat Biden in 2020, but has recently criticized the president, citing the pressure he put on West Coast dock workers to reach a deal a year ago. He met Donald Trump last July.
Any strike disruption would likely hurt Democrats, but the cost of alienating allies in the labor movement just weeks before the election would be greater, said William Brucher, a professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University. ) said.
But public support for the strike could be tested by the dispute, which was defended by Mr Daggett, who was acquitted., external In a 2004 federal prosecution case, suspicions were raised that it was linked to organized crime. The related civil lawsuit has not yet been resolved.
Films such as the 1954 classic On the Waterfront once defined the image of longshoremen’s unions, but Professor Brutzer said historical memories had largely faded and many shared longshoremen’s concerns about the cost of living and automation.
“As much as public opinion against the ILA may sway, the strike by ILA members is their decision and I do not think they will be swayed by public opinion in any meaningful way,” he said.
“What is more likely to happen is that the pressure of the strike will force employers to come back to the table with much more substantive offers.”
