A crane stands over a shipping container in the Port of Newark on March 26, 2024.
Spencer Pratt | Getty Images
The International Longshoremen’s Union announced Sunday that a port strike on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf of Mexico will go into effect starting Tuesday, hinting at actions that could cause delays and disruption to supply chains.
“The United States Maritime Union…refuses to address half a century of wage suppression,” the union said in a statement. The United States Maritime Alliance, known as USMX, represents employers in the coastal industries of the Eastern and Gulf Coasts.
If union members walk off their jobs at ports stretching from Maine to Texas, it will be the first coast-to-coast ILA strike since 1977.
It’s unclear whether any negotiations have taken place or are planned before Monday’s midnight deadline.
Earlier, President Joe Biden said he would not intervene to stop the strike if longshoremen did not win a new contract by the October 1 deadline.
“This is collective bargaining. I don’t believe in Mr. Taft-Hartley,” he told reporters.
The president can intervene in labor disputes that threaten national safety or security by imposing an 80-day cooling-off period under the federal Taft-Hartley Act.