Here’s How A Dock Worker Strike Could Upend The Economy — And The Election

A looming dock worker strike could throw the economy — and the presidential election — into chaos, an October surprise that would likely hurt Democrats.

The International Longshoremen’s Association, which represents about 85,000 dock workers nationwide, is threatening to strike on October 1 if the union cannot reach an agreement with port ownership. Negotiations broke down in June between the union and the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents port management. The two sides are in a stalemate over both wages and the automation of port operations.

A strike would shut down five of North America’s 10 busiest ports, 36 ports total along the East and Gulf Coasts, and cause massive supply chain issues — which, depending on how long the strike lasts, could impact consumers past Election Day and well into the holiday season. If the supply chain is upended like this causing scarcities, we are also likely to see another nasty bout of inflation just as families are trying to recover from the nearly 20% spike in prices since before the pandemic.

The Biden administration has the power to stop strikes that could threaten national security or severely impact the economy. But the White House has said it will not intervene in a dock worker strike, and is encouraging the two sides to get back to the negotiating table.

The global economic turmoil wrought by a strike of this size cannot be understated.

The ports that would be affected move nearly half of all U.S. imports, and billions of dollars in trade each month. The ripple effects on supply chains in Europe, Asia, and Latin America would also be significant.

None of this is likely good for Democrats.

Election Day is only six weeks away, and Vice President Kamala Harris is locked in a nail-biter of a presidential race against former President Donald Trump. Harris is currently leading by two points, a smaller lead than Hillary Clinton had in 2016 before losing to Trump. A strike would begin on October 1, the day of the vice presidential debate between Democrat Tim Walz and Republican Sen. JD Vance.

Even the threat of a strike is causing economic uncertainty at a time when the economy is not exactly Democrats’ strongest issue. About 60% of Americans disapproved of President Biden’s handling of the economy in June. Harris is only just starting to catch up to Trump’s approval rating on the issue.

It’s unclear why Biden won’t intervene, though some have speculated that the president is unwilling to go out of his way to help Harris after Democrats ousted him from his reelection campaign over the summer. Others have wondered whether Biden is courting the dock worker union at a time when the union vote is not coming easily to Democrats.

Last week, a group of House Republicans on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee wrote to President Biden urging his administration to do everything in its power to prevent a strike that could lead to “dire impacts to our supply chains, our economy, and the American consumer.”

Even a one-day strike could take a week to recover from, industry insiders say. A strike that lasts a week would take several weeks of catch-up work, and the effects of a strike that lasts several weeks would be felt well into 2025. Meanwhile, retailers would suffer shortages throughout the holiday shopping season, their busiest time.

Any work stoppage is still over a week away, but the effects of a potential strike are already being felt.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is ramping down operations to avoid containers piling up should dock workers strike. Ships coming in from far away are planning to delay their journeys to a potentially impacted port. Some ships have been on their way to these ports since mid-August and hope to unload before any strike. Cargo is also already being moved from the East to the West Coast in anticipation of a strike.

The last strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association happened in 1977, and lasted a whopping 44 days. Union president Harold Daggett was a union member during the first strike, and traveled to the West Coast with fellow members to picket the docks. They convinced the West Coast dock workers’ union not to unload ships that were diverted there from the East Coast.

Spin Cycle: All Eyes On North Carolina

For those who don’t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week’s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.

With just over six weeks to go until the November election, Democrats and their media surrogates have been looking for anything that might stick when it comes to finding a narrative that doesn’t favor former President Donald Trump.

Complicating matters considerably was the fact that just after the Sunday morning political shows wrapped last weekend, the former President was targeted by a second assassination attempt — just eight weeks and one day after he was shot during his Butler, Pennsylvania, rally — while golfing at his home course in Palm Beach, Florida. And while some time was certainly dedicated on several networks to the ongoing investigation into the reported failings of the United States Secret Service — both in PA and in FL — most of the shows also spent a fair amount of time on whatever they could find that did not favor Trump.

In that respect, the big news was the opposition research dump on Lt. Governor Mark Robinson (R-NC) — and almost every major network show either brought in a Democrat who could use Robinson to attack Trump or brought in a Republicans they could put on the spot, forcing them to choose a side.

Former Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) got tapped to address the issue during a panel discussion on ABC News’ “This Week,” and he argued that Robinson’s predicament had been wholly “predictable.”

“Mark Robinson’s tenure,” Christie said, “Has shown erratic, sometime highly offensive statements over and over again.”

Reports of NC GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson allegedly making inflammatory posts was “predictable,” @ChrisChristie tells @GStephanopoulos.

“Mark Robinson’s tenure…has shown erratic, sometimes highly offensive statements over and over again." https://t.co/rLdy7smjZw pic.twitter.com/ZknIaOmZVY

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 22, 2024

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” anchor Jake Tapper brought in Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) to respond.

“I’ve seen these allegations, Jake, and they’re concerning allegations … He owes the people of North Carolina more answers about it,” Cotton said, before pivoting to push Tapper back toward a conversation about the presidential race “that matters to everyone.”

“He owes the people of North Carolina more answers about it.”@SenTomCotton responds to CNN’s report uncovering disturbing comments made by Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor in North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/hI7zbC93Lr

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) September 22, 2024

Tapper then brought in Robinson’s Democratic opponent to continue the conversation, and Josh Stein immediately declared Robinson “unfit to be the governor of North Carolina.”

Tapper noted that Robinson has thus far denied responsibility for the comments made on a pornography message board, but Stein said that he did not believe Robinson was telling the truth.

“If you look at what he said on the post, it is in keeping with what he has said publicly on Facebook that are still on his Facebook page,” Stein argued. “Mark Robinson is absolutely unfit to be the governor of North Carolina, and that was true before your story broke last Thursday. The story has only served to underline and put an exclamation point on that fact.”

“Mark Robinson is absolutely unfit to be the governor of North Carolina.”@JoshStein_ responds to a new CNN report on Mark Robinson’s vulgar and disturbing comments on a porn website in an interview with @jaketapper. pic.twitter.com/2kmfPhO2fN

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) September 22, 2024

On NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) weighed in on the topic, and he said that the news had put Democrats in a much better position in North Carolina.

“It’s great news for Democrats,” Fetterman said, calling Robinson “the new dream candidate to run against” and arguing that the controversy now threatening to engulf him had put Democrats in the “best possible situation to win” the key swing state.

WATCH: Sen. John Fetterman says Democrats are in the “best possible situation to win” North Carolina after a bombshell report about GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson.@SenFettermanPA: “It’s great news for the Democrats. … He’s the new dream candidate to run against.” pic.twitter.com/vSjASjIVAD

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 22, 2024

But it was Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) who took things a few steps further on MSNBC,  where he joined former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on her Sunday morning broadcast of “Inside with Jen Psaki.”

“He is white supremacy in blackface as he talks about his desire to bring slavery back,” Warnock said of Robinson. “This talk is way beyond the pale, calling himself a black Nazi, these are his words. And I think that the people of North Carolina need to take note of the fact that this is Donald Trump’s candidate, this is who he keeps pushing and encouraging. This is who he thinks should represent them.”

.@ReverendWarnock on Mark Robinson: “He is white supremacy in Blackface.”

Watch the full interview at 12pm ET on @MSNBC pic.twitter.com/kqszf9mRHI

— Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) September 22, 2024

Trump has not addressed the allegations against Robinson, but the embattled Lieutenant Governor will reportedly not attend an upcoming rally for the former President in North Carolina.

Republican Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance was also asked to weigh in on the topic, but chose instead to redirect.

The Kamala HQ account on X — Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign rapid response team which just last week got hit with an eight-part fact-check from CNN’s Daniel Dale — shared a video of Vance ignoring a question shouted after him.

“Q: Senator Vance, do you have any reaction to the Mark Robinson news? Vance: *rushes into other room,*” the caption read.

“‘Rushes into other room’ I was *walking* to the doctor (because one of my kids gave me the plague) My comment on Mark Robinson is that Kamala Harris cast the deciding vote on the Inflation Explosion Act and because of that a lot of Americans can’t afford groceries,” Vance posted in response.

"Rushes into other room"

I was *walking* to the doctor (because one of my kids gave me the plague)

My comment on Mark Robinson is that Kamala Harris cast the deciding vote on the Inflation Explosion Act and because of that a lot of Americans can't afford groceries https://t.co/jYyHAhIGEa

— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 20, 2024

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