Port strike could have severe economic impact on Alabama, officials warn: ‘It’s a tragedy’

According to the Alabama Port Authority, during the strike, certain fees and storage charges will be frozen during the work stoppage.

Cargo will not be available for retrieval and terminals will not be able to accept any cargo or service any vessels. The authority acknowledged the situation is “fluid.”

“We have developed a comprehensive contingency plan designed to address various scenarios, allowing us to maintain the highest standards of service during this time,” the Alabama Port Authority said in a statement to customers.

Bradley Byrne, president and CEO of the Mobile Chamber, called the strike “a very negative development for the nation, and our area in particular.”

Byrne said the strike will immediately affect the port’s bulk freight and container terminals.

Impact will be felt in places like Walmart, Home Depot, furniture stores, retailers, and right before the holiday season, as well as in supplying components for the automotive and aerospace industries, he said.

For every day the port is shut down, Byrne said, it would take six days to catch up.

“We have the fastest growing container port in the country, and the deepest ship channel for container ships on the Gulf Coast. And now we have a work stoppage, which means nothing new coming in or going out if it’s international. It has a tremendous negative impact on the port itself, and there are a number of businesses tied directly and indirectly to the port. Half of the goods coming into the US come in from the eastern Gulf Coast.”

“It’s a tragedy,” said Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, who is chair of the General Fund committee.

“It’s going to affect Alabama dramatically,” he said. “The long arm of the longshoremen is huge.”

Byrne said some manufacturing operations have inventory stockpiled, so the impact may not be felt for some time. But the longer the strike goes on, the more the potential for severe economic impact. Once inventory is depleted, needed parts and components will not be there.

The strike could also affect other sectors, such as trucking.

“At some point, you deliver everything you deliver from the container port,” Byrne said. “Then your truck drivers sit idle and there is nothing for them to pull. A lot of businesses will hang onto the workforce as long as they can. But businesses cannot do that forever and there is no indication when this strike will be over. We can’t tell if this is a short or a long strike.”

ILA Local 1410 President Mark Bass said there were approximately 160 to 170 workers that began striking last night in across multiple locations in Mobile.

“You know, everybody can say what they want to, but they’re not subject to what we do,” Bass told AL.com. “So, you know, I tell people, because I’m just in my 35th year, come work on the docks and live in my shoes and see how you like it. So, an average person can’t do it because we miss birthdays. We miss when anniversaries. We miss all the normal things that people like an Alabama game.”

Albritton said there is virtually no action that can be taken at the state level to keep goods moving. However, he and Byrne said the Biden Administration could invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, which would keep work continuing at the ports while negotiations continue.

“It’s been used 37 times by Democratic and Republican presidents,” Byrne said. “This will have a negative impact on inflation, and I just don’t understand why he doesn’t get involved in this.”

The act allows the government to intervene in any labor dispute that could threaten national security or safety through an 80-day cooling-off period.

“We’ve never invoked Taft-Hartley to break a strike and are not considering doing so now,” Reuters quoted an administration official as saying. “We encourage all parties to remain at the bargaining table and negotiate in good faith.”

The Teamsters, in a release, had their own ideas about invoking the act.

“The US 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 statement issued Tuesday.

“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.”

Margaret Kidd, a supply chain expert at the University of Houston, said each day of the strike could potentially cost the US economy $5 billion.

“The last strike in 1977 lasted 45 days,” Kidd said. “At the same time, globalization is not what it is today. As a percentage of GDP, trade was only 16 percent. Fast forward to today, it’s 28 percent. Our economy cannot afford to have these critical modes closed for an extended time. While the president said he will not get involved 35 days before ethe election, at some point, he will have to.”

Kidd said she believes the port strike will get resolved soon. Kidd is the program director of Supply Chain and Logistics Technology at the University of Houston who has visited ports throughout the world.

“If this strike lasts a few days, so be it. Life goes on. There is a bigger fish to fry. “We have to be focused on the folks in Asheville, North Carolina who are recovering from the hurricane,” Kidd said.

AL.com reporter Patrick Darrington contributed to this report.