Spotlight
US East , Gulf coast ports brace for strike
The first strike on the US East and Gulf coast in nearly half a century is increasingly looking likely , as ports adjust operations in preparation for an Oct . 1 shutdown , and employers and labor remain at an impasse . In the lead-up , ports released contingency plans , container lines announced special surcharges and railroads announced cutoffs on receiving export cargoes . Just a week before the strike threat , as this issue of the Journal of Commerce was going to press , the International Longshoremen ’ s Association ( ILA ) and United States Maritime Alliance ( USMX ) had yet to break an impasse on the contract expiring on Sept . 30 . ILA President Harold Daggett has told his members that the union will not agree to an extension once the contract expires . Estimates range widely on how long it would take to clear ports from Maine to Texas after several days of disruption . Sea-Intelligence estimates that a one-day work stoppage would take ports six to seven days to recover , while a two-week disruption would push the recovery into next year . Port directors tell the Journal of Commerce they can recover in weeks if a work stoppage doesn ’ t go longer than a few days , pointing to how they ’ ve been able to clear cargo when severe weather closed terminals . Other operations also may be affected , including container and chassis depots that employ ILA members . The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey , which also operates its own chassis pool , said it plans to waive any fees related to chassis returns affected by a strike . Many shippers frontloaded cargo to avoid peak-season surcharges and potential disruption associated with labor talks , leading to a nearly 9 % monthly increase in cargo volumes from Asia to the East and Gulf coasts in July , according to PIERS , a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S & P Global . In August , those volumes were down about 2.6 %, likely signaling the end of the surge . “ Places like the Ohio River Valley [ had ] many companies keen on continuing to use the East Coast because the transits were similar and you could save money ,” a US-based freight forwarder said . “ But now we ’ ve seen [ a lot of business shift away from the East Coast ] and the situation has reached a fever pitch .”
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Montreal strike threat emerges
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The ongoing contract negotiations for Montreal port workers aren ’ t looking good . The union representing Port of Montreal dockworkers is considering whether to strike and was set to poll rank-and-file support on Sept . 26 . The vote comes amid another round of mediation talks aimed at securing a deal in a nearly yearlong standoff between maritime employers and port workers . The vote for a strike comes about a year after Local 375 requested mediation in talks between Port of Montreal employers and dockworkers when negotiations hit an impasse . The collective bargaining agreement covering 1,120 longshore workers at Montreal expired at the end of 2023 . The Maritime Employers Association lost a bid this year to have longshore work declared an “ essential service ,” which would have barred dockworkers from a strike . Montreal was the scene of labor job actions throughout 2020 that resulted in a nearly 11,000-container backlog that took weeks to clear . The specter of a port strike in eastern Canada comes as unionized longshore foremen are still in a standoff with British Columbia maritime employers over a new collective bargaining agreement .
6 Journal of Commerce | October 7 , 2024 www . joc . com