MONTGOMERY, Ala. — With around 900 dockworkers in Mobile having joined the national International Longshoremen’s Association strike early Tuesday, Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement calling on union leadership to re-enter contract negotiations to end the strike, while further criticizing them for holding the economy “hostage.”
“If the ILA was genuinely fighting for their workers, they would be at the table negotiating for them,” Ivey said in a statement.
“Instead, at a time when families across the country are struggling to afford the rising cost of goods and as several Southeastern states are reeling from a devastating hurricane, the ILA is showing their true colors.”
Launched at midnight Tuesday, the strike has impacted 36 ports along the East and Gulf Coast, and involves more than 45,000 dockworkers. The union’s first strike since 1977, ILA leadership say issues related to compensation and job protections from automation were the catalyst for the strike.
Alabama’s own Port of Mobile played a significant role in the union’s decision to strike, with ILA President Harold Daggett telling Fox News that the port had violated its contract with workers by automating truck processing.
“We just caught them in Mobile, Alabama, (using what’s) called ‘auto gate,’ and that means the trucks are coming in and they’re not using the checkers in the ILA, circumventing the contract,” Daggett said.
“They don’t care. It’s not fair, and if we don’t put our foot down now, they would like to run over us, and we’re not going to allow that.”
Longshoreman President Harold Daggett praises Secretary of Labor Julie Su, and attacks the corporations whose greed has seen them make $400 billion in profit by jacking up prices since the start of the pandemic. pic.twitter.com/IO2hizqpOX
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) October 1, 2024
Ivey did not comment on the workers’ demands or concerns over automation, but rather stressed the economic harm that the strike could lead to in the coming weeks and months.
“They have chosen to hold hostage our economy, American consumers and its own workers they claim to support,” she said. “And who will end up with the brunt of the cost? Hardworking Americans.”
Daggett did not shy away from the potential economic harm the strike will likely cause, with experts estimating the strike could cost the economy anywhere from $3.8 billion to $4.5 billion per day.
The blame, however, was squarely on companies for failing to meet dockworkers’ demands, Daggett argued.
“People never gave a (explicative) about us until now when they finally realized that the chain is being broke; cars won’t come in, food won’t come in, clothing won’t come in,” he said.
“You know how many people depend on our jobs? Half the world, and it’s time for them, and time for Washington to put so much pressure on them to take care of us, because we took care of them.”
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville also weighed in on the strike, calling on President Joe Biden to intervene by using his authority provided by the Taft-Harley Act, which enacts an 80-day cooling off period for union negotiation failures.
Biden, however, already indicated on Sunday that he would not intervene in the negotiations between ports and the ILA.
“The President of the United States is the only person who can intervene – and Biden has signaled he will not,” Tuberville said in a statement.
“If left unresolved, these strikes will shut down our nation’s supply chain and wreak havoc on our economy. American families are already struggling and should not have to pay for the poor decision-making of this Administration and unreasonable union demands that will result in supply shortages and price surges.”
The strike’s impact on the Port of Mobile will be isolated to the port’s container terminal, according to Port of Mobile Director and CEO John Driscoll.
“The Port has longstanding and historically good relationships with union labor, whose work is critical to the Port’s ability to deliver for Alabama and the entire U.S.,” Driscoll said in a statement Monday. “At the end of the day, a strike isn’t good for anyone, and we hope to see the ILA come back to the table for productive conversations soon.”
Dockworkers asked for a 77% pay raise over the next six years, and additional protections against automation, which Daggett has said threaten dockworkers’ job stability. Union leadership rejected an offer Monday according to The Wall Street Journal that included a 50% wage increase over six years due to a lack of protections against automation.