News / White House rejects plea to use legal powers to prevent USEC port strike

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An east and Gulf coast port strike is looking increasingly likely today, after the White House said it would not invoke its legal powers to intervene. 

The response was triggered by a letter from 177 trade associations urging the US government to act if negotiations with the ILA don’t resume.  

Terminal employers’ association USMX welcomed the letter sent yesterday to the government, ILA and USMX, urging the White House to “immediately work with both parties to resume contract negotiations and ensure there is no disruption to port operations and cargo fluidity”. 

Pointing out that the White House had stepped in before to avert strike action, the trade associations, representing a wide array of businesses, noted: “A strike at this point in time would have a devastating impact on the economy, especially as inflation is on the downward trend.” 

It urged both parties to return to the “bargaining table”, with administration support, adding: “The administration needs to be ready to step in if a strike or other action occurs that leads to a coastwide shutdown or disruption.” 

Unsurprisingly, the USMX issued a statement “in strong agreement” with the letter. And noting the group’s “tremendous respect for the ILA”, it said it was disappointed that the ILA was “unwilling to reopen dialogue unless all of its demands are met”. 

The US administration does not have many tools at its disposal to prevent a strike, aside from the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, under which, if it is determined that a port strike could endanger national health or safety, the US president can request a court order for an 80-day cooling-off period. 

However, the White House told Reuters: “We’ve never invoked Taft-Hartley to break a strike and are not considering doing so now. 

“We encourage all parties to remain at the bargaining table and negotiate in good faith.” 

The stakes are high, however, with both trade and politics at risk, with the Democrats currently supportive of the unions in an election year. Politically, this must be set against the potential impact of a strike on the US economy. In addition, some observers believe ILA leader Harold Daggett is looking for a record deal that would cement his legacy. 

And he has doubled down again on his bombastic stance. In a statement yesterday, the ILA boss said: “A sleeping giant is ready to roar on Tuesday 1 October if a new master contract agreement is not in place. My members have been preparing for over a year for that possibility of a strike.”

Shippers, meanwhile, should search for alternatives, warned Angel Rodriguez, president of forwarder ASF Air. 

“Shippers should be discussing contingency plans with their service providers now, to identify solutions, including air freight, that will keep their production lines moving undisturbed.  

“Many of our clients have already started looking at full- and part-charters to have a safety stock in the unfortunate event that a strike does indeed occur.” 

Airfreight in particular could be facing an extremely busy Q4, with capacity likely to get very expensive, especially if shippers look to circumnavigate the strike by using air cargo.