East & Gulf Coast Dockworkers Strike

Mass walkout raises multiple questions. The International Longshoremen’s Association went on strike on Oct. 1 before a temporary resolution was made three days later. Although the stoppage was brief, it nonetheless impacted shipping operations across a swath of East and Gulf Coast ports, which collectively handle nearly half of the total containerized goods that enter the U.S. annually. While estimates of the economic cost of the strike range based on how the figure is calculated and which hard and soft costs are included, it is likely to take multiple weeks to completely make up for the interruption, as some perishable items may have been lost. Retailers took precautions to avoid shortages resulting from a brief interruption of service and imported holiday shopping items earlier this year. For the week ended on September 27, nearly $14 billion in trade arrived at the 14 major affected ports — an above-average tally. The toll of the strike could have been significantly higher, however, had the stoppage lasted for even another week.