Article

2024-10-03 Economy

Biden to stay out of port strike as trade flows halt, union boss threatens to ‘cripple' economy

[JustTheNews] Breaking up the strike with his presidential authority could damage Kamala Harris’ chances with a key union worker constituency, but an economic chaos may damage her cause, too.

The White House has remained firm in its position that it will not intervene in negotiations between port workers and dock employers as trade flows screech to a halt and the lead union boss threatens to "cripple" the economy less than 35 days before the presidential election.

A general strike spread across most of the major ports on the U.S. East Coast Tuesday as the labor union representing the workers, International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), said dock employers failed to give in to their demands.

The strike threatens to plug up an estimated $2.1 billion in daily trade flows from these busy ports as the presidential election and holiday seasons fast approach.

Republicans and hundreds of industry associations have called on President Joe Biden to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, a law originally passed in 1947 that gives the president the authority to intervene in strikes if they threaten to cause a national emergency. The act was last used in 2002 by President George W. Bush to reopen ports on the West Coast after employers prevented longshoreman from entering their facilities.

But before the strike began Tuesday, Biden signaled he would not invoke the post-war act to end the strike, especially given the immense damage from Hurricane Helene across the U.S. Southeast and persistent inflation as the holiday season approaches.

“Mr. President, will you intervene in the dockworkers strike if they go on strike on Tuesday?” a reporter asked the president.

“No,” Biden replied.

“Why not?”

“Because there’s collective bargaining, and I don’t believe in Taft-Hartley,” Biden said.

The White House on Tuesday again confirmed the president would not use the authority under the act to intervene in the negotiations even as the union appeared to dig in its heels for the long haul. The White House indicated its calculus stems from briefings by federal agencies on the potential impacts of the strike which “are expected to be limited at this time” on consumers.

Biden is also motivated by political calculus with the presidential election just more than a month away. Breaking up the strike with his presidential authority could damage Kamala Harris’ chances with a key union worker constituency, among which previous polls show she has struggled to maintain Biden’s levels of support. Leaving the strike unaddressed could cripple the U.S. economy—in the union boss’s own words—under his watch. Historically, a downturn in the economy rarely favors the incumbent party, which in this case would hurt Harris’ election chances.

Biden and Harris may be banking on the assessment of his federal agencies, which briefed both the president and Vice President Harris on how the strike could impact the prices of major goods. According to Politico, those agencies' assessments of the strike showed little expected impact on major goods like grain, oil, gasoline, and other fuels imports and exports.

Posted by Skidmark 2024-10-03 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11133 views ] Top

#1 If they get the huge raise that will increase inflation on imported goods substantially. This is a no win situation for the US.

Posted by Glavinter Peacock7962 2024-10-03 00:07|| 2024-10-03 00:07|| Front Page Top

#2 DAVID MARCUS: The Southeast is underwater, Middle East is on fire, ports are closed. Where is Joe Biden?

Posted by Skidmark 2024-10-03 01:06|| 2024-10-03 01:06|| Front Page Top

#3 ^Biden doesn’t want Israeli retaliatory strike on Iranian nuclear sites

Posted by Grom the Reflective 2024-10-03 01:17|| 2024-10-03 01:17|| Front Page Top

#4 Time to fully automatic the docks.

Posted by Seeking Cure For Ignorance 2024-10-03 01:30|| 2024-10-03 01:30|| Front Page Top

#5 Trump working with Musk to begin instal of new retrofit AI smart crane systems. Operator training to begin immediately at DoD facility.

How you like them apples ILA thugs ?

Posted by Besoeker 2024-10-03 02:29|| 2024-10-03 02:29|| Front Page Top

#6 There is a time and a place for labor negotiations this.

THIS AIN'T IT

We have a 4 state declared disaster / emergency.
Arrest the Union Bosses.

Posted by NN2N1 2024-10-03 06:20|| 2024-10-03 06:20|| Front Page Top

#7 "lead union boss threatens to "cripple" the economy"

Not much left to cripple, but I get it.

Posted by DooDahMan 2024-10-03 06:44|| 2024-10-03 06:44|| Front Page Top

#8 Just practicing what the Party does on a daily basis.

Posted by Procopius2k 2024-10-03 07:53|| 2024-10-03 07:53|| Front Page Top

#9 I hope EVERY involved union member loses their job and never finds another. Honestly, the moment their boss threatened to cripple the economy, they became terrorists.

Posted by Silentbrick 2024-10-03 08:35|| 2024-10-03 08:35|| Front Page Top

#10 So, we got:

1) single point of failure in a critical system

2) a task ripe for automation. Hell, it's already been done once on a smaller scale with industrial pick & place systems - machines that pick something up from here and put it down over there. Kinda like a longshoreman, eh?

This sounds like a job for the next Elon Musk. Who is up for some disruptive fun?

Posted by SteveS 2024-10-03 15:49|| 2024-10-03 15:49|| Front Page Top

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