US port workers began strike at midnight

Shipping portPhoto byMa HeonUnsplash

The International Longshoreman's Association (ILA) decided to strike at midnight ET due to not being able to make a new agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX).

Around 50,000 port workers have now walked off of their jobs and have begun to picket four hours ago. This strike will have major implications on the American economy because ports will now be closed along the entire East Coast from Maine all the way around to the Gulf of Mexico ports in Texas.

These ports receive almost half of the shipping containers throughout the entire country. These closed ports receive around 75,000 containers per day. Every day that these ports are not opened, the country will lose over $500 million every 24 hours.

The average base salary for a port worker is listed at $34,816 per year. For an estimate in this article, let's round this number up to $35,000 per year. The USMX offered the ILA union workers a pay raise of 8.25% each year over the next six years along with better retirement plans and better health care options.

That sounds like a pretty good deal because the calculation would be that each worker based upon the average salary would receive an extra $2,187.50 per year for the next six years. This amount per year sounds way better than one-third of Americans that have not received a raise in the past three years.

For ILA union workers, this raise would be twice as high because the average ILA union worker salary is $81,000 per year. With the 8.25% raise each year, the raise for the average ILA union worker would be $6,682.50 per year for the next six years. If they cannot make it on $81,000 per year, then they should have a consultation with a financial advisor. However, the ILA wanted a 77% pay raise over the next six years.

In a press release, the ILA stated the package from USMX was "...an unacceptable wage that we reject." Here is more from the head of ILA in the below video.

What does this mean for you? The three largest places where you will feel the biggest crunch will be in the food, pharmaceutical, and automotive sectors. Food prices will skyrocket again to pandemic levels if this strike goes on longer than a week. Get ready for a possible famine. "A measure of wheat for a penny (a day's wages)."

Most of the chemicals used to manufacture medication along with medical supplies comes from India to the East Coast. That means that within a month the entire country could run out of medication and medical supplies.

Forty percent of all automotive parts are made overseas. We will be seeing a lot of broken-down vehicles on the side of the road if this strike continues for longer than a month.

Hopefully, the ILA and the USMX will come to agreement soon because I do not want these horrible economic scenarios to happen to you in the month of October.