Tens of thousands of U.S.dockworkers are set to walk off the job early Tuesday morning, clogging dozens of ports along the East and Gulf coasts and potentially raising consumer prices ahead of the holiday season.The ports account for more than half of the nation's container imports, facilitating the transport of everything from toys to fresh fruit to nuclear reactors, JPMorgan senior equity analyst Brian Ossenbeck said in a report shared with ABC News.A prolonged work stoppage of several weeks or months could rekindle inflation for some goods and trigger layoffs at manufacturers as raw materials dry up, experts said.“A strike would be very, very disruptive,” said Jason Miller, a professor of supply-chain management at Michigan State University who closely tracks imports, told ABC News.“You can’t take all this freight and either send it to other ports or put it on airplanes,” Miller added.
“There is no plan B.”MORE: A looming port strike could fuel inflation and cause layoffs, experts sayThe International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA), the union representing East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers, is seeking higher wages and a ban on the use of some automated equipment.“ILA longshore workers deserve to be compensated for the important work they do keeping American commerce moving and growing,” the ILA told ABC News in a statement on Monday.“Meanwhile, ILA dedicated longshore workers continue to be crippled by inflation due to USMX’s unfair wage packages.”The U.S.
Maritime Alliance, or USMX, an organization bargaining on behalf of the dockworkers’ employers, declined to respond to an ABC News request for comment.President Joe Biden retains the power to prevent or halt a strike under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act.The U.S.
Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to Biden on Monday urging the White House to intervene, which it has previously said it will not do.The White House told ABC News in a statement that it has been in contact with both the ...