A U.S. senator on Tuesday warned of economic repercussions ahead of a threatened strike at major East Coast and Gulf ports in the United States on Oct. 1, as a union involved in negotiations said a “stalemate remains” over wages for longshoremen.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said the labor action “will have devastating impacts on the U.S. economy and negatively impact 25,000 longshoremen and the thousands of other port and freight workers who work at or move goods from the ports to businesses.”
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) is demanding significantly higher wages and a total ban on the automation of cranes, gates, and container movements that are used in the loading or loading of freight at 36 U.S. ports. Whenever and however the dispute is resolved, it’s likely to affect how freight moves in and out of the United States for years to come….