US East Coast Dockworkers Strike Halts Half Ocean Shipping

Dockworkers on the US East Coast and Gulf Coast began a strike early on Tuesday, halting the flow of about half the nation's ocean shipping after negotiations for a new labor contract broke down over wages. The strike, which affects 36 ports, blocks everything from food to automobile shipments across dozens of ports from Maine to Texas, amid concerns that this will cost the economy billions of dollars a day, threaten jobs, and stoke inflation. The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) union representing 45,000 port workers had been negotiating with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) employer group for a new six-year contract ahead of a midnight Sept. 30 deadline. The strike, the ILA's first since 1977, is worrying businesses across the economy that rely on ocean shipping to export their wares or secure crucial imports. Source: Qatar News Agency