itshappening
12-28-2012, 09:26 AM
Businesses are urging Obama to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to ensure that 14 U.S. ports remain open.
Unionized dockworkers along the East and Gulf coasts are threatening to begin a 14-port strike this weekend that could choke the flow of goods into the United States and drain billions of dollars from the economy.
Businesses have been sounding the alarm for weeks about the potential strike and are urging President Obama to invoke powers under the Taft-Hartley Act to ensure that the ports remain open.
The White House on Thursday urged the two sides to reach an agreement "as quickly as possible" and said it is monitoring the situation closely.
Industry groups say presidential action is needed because a shutdown of the U.S. Maritime Alliance ports would ripple through the fragile economy.
“It will likely take weeks for the ports as well as trucking and rail services to return to normal operations. Manufacturers can ill afford a strike when they area already facing the burden of the fiscal cliff and so much economic uncertainty,” said Robyn Boerstling, director of transportation and infrastructure policy with the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).
The Maritime Alliance and the International Longshoremen’s Association have agreed to meet before their current labor agreement expires on Sunday. The two sides have been tight-lipped about the status of the talks, saying only that that they remain optimistic a deal can be reached.
Amaya Tune, a spokeswoman with AFL-CIO, said the dockworkers would only go on strike as a last resort.
The outcome of the negotiations is a paramount concern for the retail and agriculture industries, which could see huge disruptions in their supply chains if the ports go dark. The ports that would be affected stretch from Boston down the coast to Houston.
The central sticking point in the talks is a royalty that the Maritime Alliance has paid the longshoremen since the 1960s. The fee was instituted to help offset the wages that were lost as the shipping industry transitioned to larger containers and fewer ships.
The Maritime Alliance says the time has come to cap the fees to reflect the downsizing of the workforce since the ’60s. It says the payments are "another form of compensation for ILA workers, who are among the nation's most highly compensated."
The longshoremen argue the fees are a vital supplement to their wages during slow shipping seasons and are resisting proposals to reduce them.
Businesses have watched the dispute unfold nervously, fearing a repeat of the port strike that crippled shipping routes 10 years ago.
http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/ports/274711-obama-pressed-to-act-as-strike-threat-hangs-over-east-coast-ports-
Unionized dockworkers along the East and Gulf coasts are threatening to begin a 14-port strike this weekend that could choke the flow of goods into the United States and drain billions of dollars from the economy.
Businesses have been sounding the alarm for weeks about the potential strike and are urging President Obama to invoke powers under the Taft-Hartley Act to ensure that the ports remain open.
The White House on Thursday urged the two sides to reach an agreement "as quickly as possible" and said it is monitoring the situation closely.
Industry groups say presidential action is needed because a shutdown of the U.S. Maritime Alliance ports would ripple through the fragile economy.
“It will likely take weeks for the ports as well as trucking and rail services to return to normal operations. Manufacturers can ill afford a strike when they area already facing the burden of the fiscal cliff and so much economic uncertainty,” said Robyn Boerstling, director of transportation and infrastructure policy with the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).
The Maritime Alliance and the International Longshoremen’s Association have agreed to meet before their current labor agreement expires on Sunday. The two sides have been tight-lipped about the status of the talks, saying only that that they remain optimistic a deal can be reached.
Amaya Tune, a spokeswoman with AFL-CIO, said the dockworkers would only go on strike as a last resort.
The outcome of the negotiations is a paramount concern for the retail and agriculture industries, which could see huge disruptions in their supply chains if the ports go dark. The ports that would be affected stretch from Boston down the coast to Houston.
The central sticking point in the talks is a royalty that the Maritime Alliance has paid the longshoremen since the 1960s. The fee was instituted to help offset the wages that were lost as the shipping industry transitioned to larger containers and fewer ships.
The Maritime Alliance says the time has come to cap the fees to reflect the downsizing of the workforce since the ’60s. It says the payments are "another form of compensation for ILA workers, who are among the nation's most highly compensated."
The longshoremen argue the fees are a vital supplement to their wages during slow shipping seasons and are resisting proposals to reduce them.
Businesses have watched the dispute unfold nervously, fearing a repeat of the port strike that crippled shipping routes 10 years ago.
http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/ports/274711-obama-pressed-to-act-as-strike-threat-hangs-over-east-coast-ports-