An estimated 45,000 members of the International Longshoreman’s Association have gone on strike at 36 US ports, demanding higher pay and protections against automation. Ron Leibman, chair of McCarter’s Transportation, Logistics & Supply Chain Management Practice, speaks with The Center Square regarding the potential impact of the strike, warning that it could severely disrupt the US economy.
Leibman emphasized, “If you remove the ports from the equation, you have to ask how things will get where they need to be. Some things will get here more slowly, and some of it won’t get here at all, like what we saw with COVID-19; and we can expect wholesale retail prices to go up.”
Leibman said costs go up when the supply chain stalls and products can be more scarce. When looking at this from an import view, the Christmas season is not really the biggest issue, he said.
“I’m not saying it won’t come eventually, but the question really is about regular stocks, like bananas,” Leibman said. “Seventy-five percent of bananas come through the East Coast, so the question now is, where are they going to come in through? If this lasts longer than a week, I think the average person will start to question why bananas are costing them significantly more. I don’t think that rhetoric will play well politically.”