As the White House scrambles to stem the economic and political fallout from work stoppages at U.S. ports, President Biden on Tuesday told a coalition representing port employers that justice will be given to striking longshoremen. We requested them to present their proposals.
“Collective bargaining is the best way to get workers the wages and benefits they deserve,” Biden said in a statement. “These profits have increased executive compensation and returned profits to shareholders in record time. The workers who have put themselves at risk during the pandemic to keep our ports open; But it’s not surprising that we’re also seeing significant increases in wages.”
A labor dispute between about 45,000 workers and the port operator has put Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in a complicated position. A prolonged strike could send a chill across the U.S. economy, causing shortages, layoffs and even higher prices for consumers just weeks before the presidential election.
The strike began after months of deadlock between longshore workers and port management. Workers were demanding wage increases beyond those offered by organizations representing employers.
Biden has said he does not intend to use federal labor laws to force workers back to work, despite pressure from Republicans to limit potential economic pain.
Invoking an 80-year-old law known as the Taft-Hartley Act could alienate unions in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan just before the presidential election, reducing key support from labor groups. .
“He believes in collective bargaining and that’s how deals are made,” said William Blucher, a labor studies professor at Rutgers University. If Biden were to use the law to intervene, “there would be real negative political consequences, not only for Biden and his legacy, but also for Vice President Harris and her presidential campaign.”
During the last labor dispute, which was supposed to freeze rail traffic in 2022, Biden called on Congress to intervene to avert a potential strike. But that means the White House is left with few options regarding this labor dispute, since it falls under the purview of a federal law that specifically regulates labor relations in the railroad industry, Blucher said.
Instead, Biden had to use his bullish pulpit to bring both sides to the negotiating table to get an agreement. Even before the International Longshoremen’s Association union resigned, Mr. Biden had sent administration officials to broker a deal.
Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients and National Economic Council adviser Lael Brainard gathered Monday with members of the American Maritime Alliance, which represents port operators. The White House said Zaients and Brainerd “urged the issue to be resolved in a way that takes into account the recent successes of these companies and the invaluable contributions of longshore workers.”
Biden aides, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, have been in contact with both workers and port operators.
However, these efforts still cannot force both sides to agree.
“They have intermediaries who provide services that bring the two sides together and finalize agreements and help them trade offers,” Blucher said. “They can’t force an agreement. That would force both sides more to negotiate.”
The White House and outside analysts have found that strikes lasting several days would have minimal impact.
However, if the outage lasts for several weeks, it could impact the availability of goods and the underlying economy. The strikes cost the economy between 4.5 billion and 7.5 billion yen each week, as truck drivers and other workers dependent on ports are furloughed and manufacturers suffer delivery delays, according to analysts at Oxford Economics. dollar loss, or a 0.1% hit to U.S. annualized gross domestic product (GDP).
Analysts expect those losses to recover once the strike ends, but that it will take a month to clear the backlog from each week of the strike.
Potential signs of inflation are already causing alarm among some lawmakers. Republicans on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee sent a letter to Biden last month warning of “dire consequences for supply chains, the economy, and American consumers.”
“In the unlikely event that a strike occurs, we urge the administration to use every authority at its disposal to ensure the continued flow of goods and avoid undue harm to American consumers and the American economy.” We ask that you do so,” the members said in the letter.
