Utah authorities anticipate a possible shortage of essential imports as a dockworker strike has effectively shut down 36 ports along the East and Gulf Coasts.
Roughly 20% of Utah’s imports come through East and Gulf Coast ports, according to a news release Tuesday from the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA). It’s too soon to know the “full extent of the disruption, but the strike “could result in a delay of critical goods such as grocery items, car parts, and holiday products,” the release said.
“We are monitoring the situation closely to understand any potential impacts on Utah’s supply chains,” UIPA Executive Director Ben Hart said in a statement.
(Kristen Zeis | The New York Times) A shipping container is taken off a truck at the Port of Virginia in Norfolk, Va., Aug. 13, 2024.
An estimated 45,000 dockworkers went on strike Tuesday after the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) failed to reach a new contract with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX). The dockworkers’ existing contract expired at midnight Monday.
It’s the first strike from ILA members since 1977, according to ILA’s website. The strike will continue “round the clock, 24/7, for as long as it takes for United States Maritime Alliance ... to meet the demands of ILA rank-and-file members,” the union said.
Dockworkers are demanding higher wages and “absolute airtight language” in a new contract that protects jobs from automation, ILA President Harold Daggett said in a statement.
The supply chain disruption could drive prices of goods up nationwide.
Spokespeople for Kroger and Amazon did not immediately respond to questions about how their customers might be affected.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
Shannon Sollitt is a Report for America corps member covering business accountability and sustainability for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by clicking here.
