The International Brotherhood of Teamsters slammed the Biden-Harris administration, saying it should “stay the f*** out of this fight” as port workers began a strike.
Just past midnight on October 1, unionized port workers from Maine to Texas walked off the job after no deal was reached regarding a new master contract between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) union and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents employers of the East and Gulf Coast longshore industry. It is the first strike among port workers since 1997.
In response to the failed negotiations, Teamsters, which represents more than a million workers across the U.S. and Canada, said it stands “in full solidarity with the International Longshoremen’s Association as they fight for a fair and just contract with the ocean carriers represented by USMX.”
“The U.S. government should stay the f*** out of this fight and allow union workers to withhold their labor for the wages and benefits they have earned,” the union said in a press release issued on September 30. “Any workers—on the road, in the ports, in the air—should be able to fight for a better life free of government interference. Corporations for too long have been able to rely on political puppets to help them strip working people of their inherent leverage.”
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Newsweek contacted the White House for comment via email outside of standard working hours.
President Biden previously confirmed the federal government would not be taking action to prevent the walkout. A strike could be mitigated for a stretch by the president invoking the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows the government to intervene in any labor dispute that could threaten national security or safety by imposing an 80-day cooling-off period. This period would force workers back on the job as negotiations proceed.
“We’ve never invoked Taft-Hartley to break a strike and are not considering doing so now,” a Biden administration official told Reuters. “We encourage all parties to remain at the bargaining table and negotiate in good faith.”
Why Are Port Workers Striking?
While negotiations between the ILA – which represents approximately 45,000 port workers at 36 locations across the East and Gulf coasts – and USMX made some progress regarding pay on Tuesday, the ILA said it rejected the alliance’s latest proposal as it fell short of what “rank-and-file members are demanding in wages and protections against automation.”
“We are prepared to fight as long as necessary, to stay out on strike for whatever period of time it takes, to get the wages and protections against automation our ILA members deserve,” ILA president Harold Daggett said. “They must now meet our demands for this strike to end.”
While Teamsters has previously endorsed a number of Democratic candidates during past election cycles, including Joe Biden in 2020, it has said it will not do the same for the party’s 2024 nominee, Kamala Harris, after its members were divided on who to support in the November presidential election.
“President Joe Biden won the support of Teamsters voting in straw polls at local unions between April-July prior to his exit from the race,” the union said in a statement in September. “But in independent electronic and phone polling from July-September, a majority of voting members twice selected Trump for a possible Teamsters endorsement over Harris.”
“The union’s extensive member polling showed no majority support for Vice President Harris and no universal support among the membership for President Trump.”