President Joe Biden and other administration officials are speaking up about the International Longshoremen's Association's ongoing strike at East and Gulf Coast ports.
Even before a strike began on Oct. 1, stakeholders urged government intervention to help the ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance, or USMX, reach an agreement. The Biden administration, however, has been vocal about not intervening with negotiations via the Taft-Hartley Act, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a Sept. 30 press briefing. The federal law gives a president the power to intervene in a strike.
"It is time for USMX to negotiate a fair contract with the longshoremen that reflects the substantial contribution they’ve been making to our economic comeback," Biden said in a Tuesday statement.
Many shippers are wary of another period of high ocean freight costs while ocean carriers make record profits, as they did during the pandemic. Biden said his administration will be monitoring any "price gouging activity that benefits foreign ocean carriers, including those on the USMX board."
Other government leaders are turning up the heat on carriers and other port employers in their own statements.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg warned ocean carriers to not impose strike surcharges on shippers.
"Our administration is calling on ocean carriers to withdraw their surcharges,” Buttigieg said in a Tuesday statement. “No one should exploit a disruption for profit, especially at a time when whole regions of the country are recovering from Hurricane Helene.”
Several ocean carriers like CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk announced surcharges that would go into effect this month to help with added costs due to a strike.
The Federal Maritime Commission has already shared tools for shippers in case there are disputes amid the strike, such as how to file a complaint for improper charges or seeking a facilitator to resolve issues.
Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su also called out USMX to "put an offer on the table that reflects workers’ sacrifice and contributions to their employer’s profits."
“Over the last week and more, I have spent hours on the phone and in meetings with the parties urging them to find a way to reach a fair contract," Su said in a Tuesday statement.
"There is room for both companies and their workers to prosper. The parties need to get back to the negotiating table, and that must begin with these giant shipping magnates acknowledging that if they can make record profits, their workers should share in that economic success," she added.
Meanwhile, the current state of negotiations between the union and the employer’s organization remains stalled.
Both the ILA and USMX released statements Tuesday blaming the other for the impasse in negotiations.
While USMX said its current offer exceeds every other recent union settlement in terms of wages, the union said it fails to address the demands of its members adequately.
