Dock workers along the East and Gulf Coasts have agreed to a significant raise. It was enough to stop the strike for now, but there are still a lot of details to be ironed out surrounding automation at these ports.
“That’s the real big question mark because this is an issue that they are adamantly opposed to and there’s not a lot of, you know, coming to the middle on this. We certainly hope that does occur. One thing that will be interesting is that the presidential election will be behind us, so some of this political elements of all of this will have subsided, but obviously, we hope that the two parties can come to an agreement that benefits both. They’re not. Each side is not going to get everything they want, but at least allows our supply chain to be more predictable, and more reliable. Our economy desperately needs that right now,” said Soy Transportation Coalition’s Mike Steenhoek.
Even though work has resumed, analysts say it could take as much as a month for the flow of goods to pick back up. Ag groups like the U.S. Meat Export Federation say they are relieved, noting exports are a critical part of the U.S. meat industry. Both sides have until mid-January to reach a full agreement.
