Contract proposals from the International Longshoremen’s Association could “lock America back in the Stone Age for another six years,” the CEO of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors warned on Tuesday.
Appearing on FOX Business, NAW head Eric Hoplin told Maria Bartiromo the union’s push to ban automation at gates and for cranes moving containers and unloading cargo is “unrealistic.”
“Look around the globe. Look at the Port of Shanghai in China, one of the busiest ports on the planet: fully automated cranes, fully autonomous vehicles, moving everything at lightning speed in China. Same thing in Singapore. Same thing at Rotterdam in the Netherlands. By the way, Rotterdam started moving to automation 30 years ago. We’re already three decades behind,” he said.
Unionized dockworkers at East and Gulf Coast ports contrarily argue a shift to automation would result in job loss.
THE TAFT-HARTLEY ACT: WHY BIDEN COULD USE THIS LABOR TO PREEMPT A PORT STRIKE
The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) representing approximately 45,000 workers began its first strike since 1977 as the clock struck midnight on Tuesday, signaling the end of a six-year contract with the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents port employers.
With the ILA demanding increased compensation and protection from automation at ports, negotiations have reached a standstill.
As of now, there’s no indication of when the strike could end.
Amid pressure to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to bring the strike to an end, the Biden administration has chosen to remain uninvolved.
Hoplin believes this is a bad idea.
“It looks like the administration is completely out to lunch. They’ve been out to lunch on the economy since the beginning of the administration,” he said.
“When the union threatened to strike, the administration said from the beginning, the president said he would not intervene. That essentially gave the union a green light to go ahead, so what we’ve seen is they have been away from the bargaining table for the last three months. They won’t even talk to USMX, so they don’t want a deal. This is a premeditated attack on the American economy, and they’re starting to carry it out today.”
ILA continues to deny USMX’s claims that the union refuses to come to the bargaining table, according to a Politico report.
At the same time, the report claimed the economic aftershocks from the strike could have negative impacts on the Biden-Harris administration, particularly as the vice president attempts to characterize the economy positively.
“The fact that the president is not intervening is a mistake,” Hoplin continued.
“So I’ve joined 200 other trade association CEOs representing the entire economy. We’re calling on the president to invoke Taft-Hartley to get involved, to get our ports back in order.”
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FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.
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