The Port of New York and New Jersey could come to a standstill this week, along with other ports all along the East Coast, should the union representing tens of thousands of longshoremen not reach a new contract deal with a consortium of shipping companies.
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) is threatening to walk off the job at ports up and down the East Coast and on the Gulf Coast if a deal is not reached by midnight on Tuesday with the United States Maritime Alliance, a consortium of ocean shipping carriers and port operators.
The union is seeking higher wages and protections against automation of their jobs.
Should a deal not be reached, cargo operations are set to cease at the Port Authority’s facilities in New York City and New Jersey. New cargo will not be accepted for export at the port, and shippers will not be able to pick up imported goods after Monday, Sept. 30. The last freight trains will leave the port on Monday if a contract is not inked.
“There will be a shutdown, assuming that there’s no intervention,” said Bethann Rooney, the Port Authority’s port director, at the agency’s board meeting this month. “All activity in the Port of New York and New Jersey with regards to containerized cargo and automobile cargo will cease.”
The Port Authority has urged shippers to get their business done before the shutdown, and the agency was expecting heavy traffic this month; a Port Authority spokesperson did not immediately provide September traffic numbers.
The strike could significantly impact commerce in the region and nation, leaving New Yorkers with shortages of goods and paying higher prices for them. The Port Authority says about $240 billion worth of goods are transported through its ports each year, supporting some 600,000 jobs throughout the region.
amNewYork Metro contacted the ILA for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
