Little progress has been made to avoid a strike at some of the nation’s busiest ag shipping ports, and workers could walk off the job in a matter of days.
The U.S. Maritime Alliance says they have been unable to get the union back to the table for negotiations. The Department of Labor has been monitoring the situation and is prepared to step in as a mediator if needed. The U.S. Meat Export Federation warns a strike at East and Gulf ports would cause serious issues for beef, chicken, and pork exports.
Tommy Grisafi was on the Cow Guy Close this week and says disruption of this scale could cripple the supply chain.
“There could very well be a massive supply chain disruption. Now, Americans, we have gotten so used to just going to Walmart and there’s something on the shelf. We learned that with COVID, our meat supply and other supplies could be gone within a few days, fresh pork or other things when we have a supply chain disruption, all of a sudden one day we could go to the store 15 days for the election and be like where? Where is that? What’s going on here? Why can’t I get a tire for my vehicle? It could be very disruptive.”
A strike would have a significant impact on container shipments. Ports like Norfolk, Virginia saw more than 65,000 containers of soybeans leave that port last year. Some other ports in jeopardy include New York, Baltimore, Charleston, and Savannah. The strike will begin October 1st if groups cannot find common ground.
