The United States of America is considered to be one of the most formidable nations when it comes to foreign trade. The United States is the 2nd largest goods exporter in the world, behind only China. U.S. goods exports to the world totaled $2.1 trillion in 2022, up 17.5 percent ($307.3 billion) from 2021. Most of the items that we buy as the ground level consumers come from a part of these imports. In 2022, the main imports were consumer goods which stood at 26 percent of total imports, and others including the raw materials for items like food and beverage, or industrial supplies which are used to create finished consumer products sold in retail itself. In this almost automated process, we never realize the dependence that we have on the people who work on  the back end of this to make it a smooth process. Resultant negligence of this high dependence is what occurred a couple of weeks ago which brought the US trade systems for imports and exports to a terrifying halt. 

Nearly 50,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) launched a strike Tuesday, October 1, targeting East and Gulf Coast ports, effectively halting much of the nation's import and export activity. This labor action, which began at midnight, disrupted the flow of a vast array of goods through almost all cargo ports from Maine to Texas. Affected items included bananas, European alcohol, furniture, clothing, and even auto parts essential for keeping U.S. factories running.

The strike also halted U.S. exports from these ports, impacting American companies reliant on international sales. Despite negotiations, a substantial divide had persisted between the ILA's demands and the contract proposal from the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents foreign-owned shipping lines, terminal operators, and port authorities. If this would have happened for a few months continuously then it would surely lead to the collapse of this world trade. 

But the real questions are why this happened and what role the government needs to play so it can ensure relative pay to the work and its importance and no such halting crisis like this event occurs again. The responses to these questions are vague but have their own perspectives. This strike could be reduced into two major issues: automation and wages.

Port employees perform grueling and crucial work. Dockworkers are rallying against a growing trend among port operators to increase the number of cranes and driverless trucks – which use fewer humans – to shuttle goods from container ships. The ILA also wants a $5-an-hour increase in pay for each of the six years of the next contract, or a 77% hike in total. The USMX said it had increased its offer to more than 50% over the proposed six-year contract. Furthermore with this tentative new agreement, workers will earn a 61.5% raise over six years. That means the highest paid workers would make $63 per hour in the final year of the contract — up from $39. From a collective statement from the ILA they believe it is the “wage that they deserve” which is justified since a week-long strike would cost the US economy about $2.1 billion, according to an estimate from the Anderson Economic Group, with ship lines losing $400 million in profits, while striking workers or those laid off lose $200 million in wages.

There are also disputes between the union and management about the use of automation in the ports, which the union said would cost some members their jobs. The USMX said it is offering to keep the same contract language on use of automation in place. Dockworkers feared that increasing reliance on automated systems would lead to job losses. Container-handling machinery has been gradually introduced to improve port efficiency. However, labor unions like the ILA argue that such advancements threaten the future of manual dock work. 

The Biden administration, while supported workers' rights and unions, faced pressure to address the economic fallout that a prolonged work stoppage could have caused, especially with rising prices and supply chain disruptions ahead of Election Day. Though business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, had urged the administration to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act—which gives the president the power to end strikes by ordering workers back to their jobs—President Biden had stated he would not do so. His administration had sided with the union, pushing port employers to raise their offers, especially in light of the substantial profits made by the shipping industry since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, balancing these worker rights with potential economic risks remained a critical challenge, as the ripple effects of a strike could have highly impacted both domestic trade and global supply chains. The economic impact could be significant if the strike drags on, with some estimates suggesting daily losses of over $3 billion for the U.S. economy. The use of the Taft-Hartley Act remained controversial due to its tension with labor rights, a factor that Biden seemed keen to avoid, even as previous presidents, such as George W. Bush in 2002, had invoked it in similar situations.

As global trade continues to grow, the importance of East Coast ports will only increase. Yet, the issues that have led to strikes are far from resolved. Automation will likely continue to be a contentious topic as ports seek to modernize and meet the demands of faster, more efficient global trade. The challenge for unions, port operators, and policymakers will be to strike a balance between modernization and job preservation and how to keep the people who work in such an integral and precarious sector happy and satisfied with the job and to make the line against increasing efficiency and reducing employment. This clash highlights the broader debate about the future of labor in industries undergoing digital transformation, raising questions about how to balance worker rights with technological advancement​ and how the fragility of this entire empire lies in the hands of the workers who contribute to it unless there is a boom in the sector with increased automation and reduced employees. 

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Information retrieved from, CNN, Reuters, CNBC, CBS, and Trading Economy.