Supply Chain Now In Peril As Louisiana Fears Worker Strike

The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) has until October 1st to reach a deal with the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) to prevent a possibly devastating worker's strike.

If no agreement is reached this would be the first dock strike of its size since 1977. The International Longshoremen's Association is a union representing an estimated 85,000 maritime workers across North America. The current negotiations could see 25,000 dockworkers on strike if no agreement is reached.

All American ports from Maine to Texas are covered in the contract currently up for debate between the USMX and ILA. Trade ports are vital to the American economy as they bring in an estimated $5.4 trillion every year, according to the Wilson Center.

"A sleeping giant is ready to roar" - ILA President Harold J. Daggett

Louisiana Senator and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, has published a letter addressed to the White House, urging for the Biden administration to take action in preventing what could be a total shutdown of American ports.

Strikes at the East and Gulf Coast ports will have devastating consequences for American workers. A work stoppage not only affects 25,000 longshoremen, but also thousands of other port and freight workers who work at or move goods from the ports to businesses. - Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA)

In his letter, Cassidy calls for President Biden to enact the Taft-Hartley Act to prevent a strike. The Taft-Hartley Act was an amendment to the Labor Relations Act which gives the president the authority to intervene in the activity of labor unions in the case that a union may cause some sort of national emergency.