US dockworkers agreed to end a three-day strike that had paralyzed trade on the US east and Gulf coasts and threatened to become a factor in the presidential election.
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the US Maritime Association extended their previous contract through Jan. 15, the two groups said in a joint statement on Thursday. Work was set to resume yesterday morning. The two sides would also restart negotiations on a long-term agreement, which would include a pay increase of about 62 percent.
Fears of a sustained emergency swelled through the week, with analysts and industry officials warning that the disruption would quickly extend beyond the containerized imports, exports and autos impacted directly by the walkout. Estimates of the cost to the US economy ranged from US$3 billion to US$5 billion per day.
Photo: Bloomberg
“The strike is over,” ILA Local 333 president Scott Cowan told a CBS affiliate just after delivering the news to members gathered at the picket line outside the Port of Baltimore.
The agreement gives the ILA and USMX — as the group of terminal operators and shipping liners is known — time to resolve even more contentious issues without threatening the US economy just weeks ahead of the election. Shares of shipping lines in Asia fell as the suspension of the strike damped expectations that container rates would rise due to reduced capacity.
“We’re going to receive a 61.5 percent increase over the next six years and we’re going to have other language to protect us from automation worked out over the next few months, and other issues that we need resolved,” Cowan said.
Americans started to panic over potential shortages. Some anxious shoppers stocked up on goods, especially in areas affected by Hurricane Helene, which hit several southeastern states with flooding and power outages. One national grocery store chain set purchase limits on paper towels, toilet paper and water, adding to pressure on US President Joe Biden to intervene.
The deal neutralizes a potential political issue for the White House and the campaign of US Vice President Kamala Harris. A prolonged strike would have forced her to confront a crisis that fueled inflation.
It also spares Biden from having to put any public pressure on the ILA as he and Harris fight the Republican Party’s nominee, former US president Donald Trump, for the support of rank and file union members.
A deal, even a temporary one, means Biden would not have to decide whether to bear the political burden of a crippling strike or distance himself from the demands of the union.
Even though the strike lasted just three days, the cargo backlog is likely to take more than a month to clear, according to project44, a supply chain data company in Chicago. Port terminals began battening down the hatches days ahead and it would take them a while to fully reopen.
In the meantime, dozens of ships carrying containers and autos are anchored off the coast of major trade hubs in New York, South Carolina and Virginia, and would continue arriving faster than they can be unloaded.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS