Longshoremen and employers have a Jan. 15 deadline to avoid another possible strike. Workers fear automation will take their jobs.
Sue Monaghan’s business is recovering while she navigates obstacles like another possible port strike and proposed tariffs.
Port shutdowns stirred fears of supply shortages this week. Luckily, most of the TP Americans use is produced in the U.S.
There’s only so much capacity to store backed-up products, including foodstuffs.
If the strike drags on, some imported items could run low. How quickly that happens depends in part on retailers’ and consumers’ ability to stock up.
For months, shippers have been insuring against strike delays by sending their cargo to the other side of the continent.
About a hundred striking longshoremen marched by one of the terminals in the port of Baltimore. Some carried signs that say “machines don’t feed families.”
Drivers are seeking alternate income sources as their regular work grinds to a halt. Some are doing maintenance on their vehicles.
Automation at U.S. ports on the East and Gulf Coasts tends to lag behind that at the West Coast, Asian and European ports.
The deadline for negotiations between the union representing dockworkers and the ports is next week.
