Business coalition urges Biden to take ‘immediate action’ to end port strike

Nearly 300 trade associations urged President Biden on Wednesday to take “immediate action” to resolve the massive strike at ports along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico.

Tens of thousands of longshoremen walked off the job shortly after midnight Tuesday in a scenario businesses have been dreading for months. While some retailers scheduled shipments early or through the West Coast ahead of the strike, the impact on the U.S. economy is estimated to be as high as $5 billion per day.

“Given the dire situation and the massive negative ramifications for our industries and the economy, we implore you to take immediate action to resolve this situation expeditiously,” the letter says.

A range of trade associations representing manufacturers, farmers, retailers, restaurants, transportation and more signed on to the letter. 

Signatories include the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents vehicle manufacturers; Business Roundtable, which represents the chief executives of some of the biggest companies in the U.S.; Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.; National Association of Manufacturers; National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors; and the National Retail Federation.

“No organization should have the power to cripple the entire economy and hold the nation’s supply chain hostage. The time to act is now, before more businesses and communities feel the severe consequences of this prolonged disruption,” said Eric Hoplin, CEO of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.

The letter does not specifically request the president to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, which would allow him to ask the court for an 80 day “cooling off” period and thereby allow workers to go back to work while the two sides continue negotiations.

The measure has been used 37 times since it was passed in 1947, and was last invoked by President George W. Bush in 2002 to end employers’ lockout of longshoremen at ports on the West Coast.

Biden has said he would not invoke Taft-Hartley to halt the strike, and called on the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) Tuesday to give the longshoremen a “meaningful increase” in their wages. In addition to higher wages, longshoremen are demanding protections against automation that could threaten their jobs.

The International Longshoremen’s Association and the USMX went months without meeting after negotiations broke down in June over an automated gate at a port in Mobile, Ala.

The business groups argue that the “only way the parties can agree on a new deal is if they return to the negotiating table with the help of a federal mediator to ensure they bargain in good faith.”

“While we would have all preferred for the collective bargaining process to have worked and the parties to have negotiated and reached a deal, that was not the case. The administration must now step in to not only get the ports open again but work with the parties to resolve the outstanding contract issues.”