Ron Leibman, chair of McCarter’s Transportation, Logistics & Supply Chain Management Practice, speaks with The Baltimore Banner about the potential port shutdown. “For much of the year, it didn’t look like there would be a strike, despite repeated threats from the ILA’s leadership. The last strike was nearly 50 years ago, and many people in the shipping and retail industries expected these contract issues to be resolved,” Leibman said.
“I don’t believe this is a bluff,” Leibman added. “A strike is looking more plausible with each passing day.”
With just a month to go before the presidential election, a strike would likely become a political issue, according to Leibman. While the Biden Administration could invoke the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 to mandate that longshoremen return to work, Leibman noted that the politics are tricky. “They’re really caught in the middle.”