Longshoremen from Maine to Texas appear likely to go on strike, seaport CEO says
CEO of Georgia's two seaports says a strike by dockworkers seems likely.
SAVANNAH, Ga. — The chief executive over Georgia's two booming seaports said Tuesday that a strike next week by dockworkers across the U.S. East and Gulf coasts appears likely, though he's hopeful the resulting shutdown would last only a few days.
“We should probably expect there to be a work stoppage and we shouldn’t get surprised if there is one," Griff Lynch, CEO of the Georgia Ports Authority, told The Associated Press in an interview. «The question is: How long?”
U.S. ports from Maine to Texas are preparing for a potential shutdown in a week, when the union representing 45,000 dockworkers in that region has threatened to strike starting Oct. 1. That's when the contract expires between the International Longshoremen's Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents the ports. Negotiations on a new contract halted in June.
A strike would shut down 36 ports that handle roughly half the nations' cargo from ships. Lynch oversees two of the busiest in Georgia. The Port of Savannah ranks No. 4 in the U.S. for container cargo that includes retail goods ranging from consumer electronics to frozen chickens. The Port of Brunswick is America's second-busiest for automobiles.
Lynch said he's holding out hope that a strike can be averted, though he added: “The stark reality is they are not talking right now.» Represented by the maritime alliance, the Georgia Ports Authority has no direct role in negotiating.
As for how long a strike might last, “no one really knows for sure,” said Lynch, Georgia's top ports executive since 2016 and a three-decade veteran of the maritime industry. “I would think we should expect four to five days, and
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