Biden says prolonged port strike would be ‘man-made disaster’

President Joe Biden has stepped up pressure on US port employers and shipping lines to resume talks with striking pork workers, warning that the ongoing strike could turn into a “man-made disaster”.

Biden spoke about the strike that shut down every major container port on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts before leaving on a trip to survey the damage from Hurricane Helene, which left communities in the southeastern US facing an economic and humanitarian crisis.

“The last thing we need more of is a man-made disaster: what’s happening at the ports,” Biden said Wednesday. He said the companies that control the ports have made “unbelievable profits”, calling on them to resume negotiations.

It’s time to “sit down and strike,” he added.

The International Liquidators Association asked members to walk out early Tuesday morning when their labor contract with the US Maritime Alliance expired. The two groups are at an impasse over wages and, perhaps, a more difficult issue, automation.

USMX, as the group is known, claims the union has not bargained in good faith since calling off negotiations in June. Hours before the midnight deadline, and at the behest of the White House, the group offered to increase sea wages by nearly 50 percent over the new six-year contract, up from a previous offer of nearly 40 percent . ILA rejected the offer.

Biden supported the ILA’s position that cargo handlers deserve a larger share of the profits earned by foreign-owned container ships during the pandemic-era supply chain crisis. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris echoed each sentiment, blaming shipping companies.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre laid the blame for the impasse squarely at port and shipping line employers, criticizing them for a lack of discussion as the US Southeast recovers from a hurricane.

They need to “come to the table and make a fair deal to the shipowners now,” she told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday. “This should be easy for them to deal with. We are recovering from a hurricane and need to do so as soon as possible.”

The White House also called on shippers to withdraw any surcharges related to the strike — which has halted about 50 percent of U.S. container trade — and warned them not to exploit the emergency for profit. The two biggest transport operators have announced plans to impose additional charges related to the stoppage if it continues for more than a few weeks.

The union said in a statement hours before the strike began that ocean carriers were already raising prices: “They are now charging $30,000 for a full container, a staggering increase from $6,000 per container just a few weeks ago.”

Xeneta’s chief analyst Peter Sand called the claim “disinformation” and warned it could cause panic. The all-time record rate to ship a 40-foot container from Europe to the US East Coast is $8,790, set at the height of the pandemic.

“If a shipper does not have access to the data to evaluate their own freight rates, they may believe the ILA’s claim of $30,000 per container, and the market enters a vicious circle where ever higher rates are paid big,” he said.

Biden sidestepped a question about union concerns about automation, saying the two sides needed to negotiate a new labor contract, as their West Coast counterparts did last year.

“They won’t even talk. So let’s do it,” he said, adding that he has yet to personally speak with USMX representatives.

In a statement released later Wednesday, USMX said many of the critical issues to be negotiated are intertwined, and while they are focused on returning to the bargaining table, “we cannot agree on the preconditions” to doing so.

Photo: Photographer: Hannah Beier/Bloomberg

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