With the potential of 3 significantly disruptive strikes in the news, we wanted to provide you with an update:
East/Gulf Coast Longshore Contract Negotiations and Strike Threat:
Officially the negotiations between the ILA and the USMX (the employers: ocean carriers and marine terminals) ceased some months ago following a dispute over “automation” with one terminal operator. However, the full ILA is meeting to update their locals and membership, and to plan next steps in negotiations with the USMX. The current contract expires at the end of September. ILA’s President says they will strike at all the East and Gulf Coast terminals if no contract in place by then (compared to the Pacific Coast where ILWU continued to work for a full year after the contract expired). Importers and exporters have urged President Biden to get the ILA and USMX back to the negotiating table.
In the meantime, to try to reduce the impact of a potential strike, importers and exporters are shifting business to west coast terminals or advancing imports now. This is contributing to congestion, delays, and longer dwell times west coast terminals.
The first calls should be to carriers to determine what their contingency plans are – will ships still move but call at alternative ports? Once this is known, your freight forwarder and broker can leverage existing relationships to develop plans to import or export products to or from specific US locations.
Canadian Rail Strike Threat:
Over the past 3 years, while US rail unions threatened strike and gained a new contract, the Canadian Western rail unions have also pushed for contract gains, but now the strike threat appears real, and could begin on August 22nd. More US exports and imports move on Canadian rail than most Americans and policymakers realize, transiting via Vancouver and Prince Rupert ports. This is another instance where understanding the contingency plans of your carriers will help you build your own plans to minimize disruption.
Deadline Set for Indian Port Strike:
12 Major Indian ports could face strike action from six groups representing payroll and contract workers from August 28th, 2024. Seven rounds of talks have not yielded the results the workers’ groups have been asking for. Currently, no negotiations are planned, but as a routine procedure, union representatives expect an invitation from the chief labor commissioner for conciliatory talks in the coming days, ahead of potential direct government-level intervention.
Any port disruption, even if with scattered impact, could make supply chains more challenging for Indian shippers already hit hard by the Red Sea crisis, which has sent vessel schedules off-kilter and ocean freight rates unusually high on some routes.
