CONNECTICUT, USA — For the first time in nearly 50 years, longshoremen on the East and Gulf coasts are on strike, and Connecticut could be affected.
Around half of U.S. ocean shipping operations are paused as port workers demand more money.
“The longer it lasts, you'll see prices for all those goods and services start to rise,” said associate professor of economics at Quinnipiac University, Christopher Ball.
From Texas to Maryland, and New Jersey to Maine, a massive and potentially costly strike is on.
About 45,000 workers at more than three dozen ports walked off the job Tuesday. They’re demanding higher wages and less reliance on automated machinery.
“I think it'll impact Connecticut certainly before it hits the nation,” explained Ball. “I mean, we do get a lot of our stuff for manufacturing in Connecticut through the ports in New Jersey. So, it's definitely relevant.”
Just how extensive the impacts are depends on how long the strike lasts.
“If it's short-lived, if it's a day or two, the people who run the businesses might feel a little hiccup or the people who have distribution centers might feel it, but the rest of us probably not,” Ball said.
If this stoppage lasts multiple weeks, Ball says, “Any of those areas where, where this, the supply chains are disrupted, we'll start to see some spikes; your local store, you might start to notice them. You might start to notice fewer on the shelf. Then, if it goes away, all that will sort of resume.”
Experts say though those losses would reverse once the strike ends, it could take upward of a month to clear backlogs.
“The good news is that it definitely will be transitory this time. Once this is over, it'll go back away, but it could make for a hard month or two months of higher prices right at a time when we're, you know, thought we finally had inflation killed,” said Ball.
This strike started after the International Longshoremen’s Association and port operators failed to reach an agreement.
“It’s time for them to sit at the table and get this strike done,” said President Joe Biden Wednesday.
Biden says he will not invoke the Taft-Hartley Act though, an almost 80-year-old law which would force workers back to their jobs while negotiations take place.
Connecticut lawmakers are joining the president in urging swift negotiations.
“I think that the two parties need to resolve these issues, not Congress, not the president they need to come together to reach an agreement as quickly as possible,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, (D-CT).
RELATED: Biden says he won't invoke Taft-Hartley for the dockworkers' strike. Here's what that means
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Emma Wulfhorst is a political reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at ewulfhorst@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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