Military families shipping household goods and vehicles to the United States are the group most affected by the longshoremen’s strike that shut down East Coast and Gulf Coast ports on Tuesday, USNI News has learned.
Cargoes that are “100 percent military” will be loaded at the affected ports, Sal Mercogliano, maritime shipping expert and history professor at Campbell University, said.
The example he cited was a “brigade load-out” being put aboard roll-on, roll-off ships that would be handled as usual. “Household goods and vehicles going aboard container ships won’t be” leaving port during the strike.
“The cargo has to be 100 percent military” to be loaded.
More than 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association are on strike at 14 major ports and more than 20 smaller ones from Maine to Texas. The stoppage is over union calls for higher pay and job security. The job security demands come as automation in operations at gates, crane handling and in-port trucking grows in the nation’s ports.
Mercogliano said the union leadership made clear in late September that military cargoes would be handled and cruise ship operations also would not be affected by the stoppage.
ILA President Harold Daggett repeated the union’s “no strike pledge” for military cargo in a Sept. 25 news release. “We continue our pledge to never let our brave American troops down for their valor and service and we will proudly continue to work all military shipments … even if we are engaged in a strike.”
He added the pledge was originally made when the United States entered World War I.
The union said the exception for the cruise industry was related to its long shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020.
Since Military Sealift Command ships are loaded at military ports, its operations are not being affected by the strike, Tom Van Leunen, MSC deputy director of public affairs at Norfolk, said.
Oil and gas terminals have their own workers and likely also will not be affected.
A spokesperson from shipbuilder HII told USNI News the company anticipated no major issues from the strike.
“HII is monitoring the potential impact the strike would have on the supply chain for our shipbuilding divisions in Pascagoula and Newport News,” reads the statement.
”At this time, we anticipate there will be minimal impact to our programs and remain in close coordination with our suppliers and customers.”
Maritime officials and shipbuilders are not expecting a long strike.
One industry official said, “for Navy and other government building and repair programs there are stockpiles for key parts. But what would likely be impacted would be general items like trash bags and plywood that could become scarce if there is a prolonged strike.”
President Joe Biden said Sunday he did not plan to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to force the longshoremen back to work and negotiations to resume. This is the first longshoremen’s strike in almost 50 years along the East and Gulf coasts.
President George W. Bush invoked the act in 2002 during a West Coast strike.
A strike by the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union that would have shut down West Coast ports was narrowly avoided in September 2023.
