Port strike weighs on supply chain as victims of Hurricane Helene await relief

The upcoming massive port strike, expected to begin at midnight Tuesday, could have serious consequences for the provision of emergency assistance to victims of Hurricane Helene.

“We have southeastern United Stateshalf of North Carolina, parts of Georgia, southern Virginia that are under water or under mud that they’re digging up,” Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, told FOX Business. “These folks need help . And now we’re going to close 36 ports, all trade in and out of this eastern half of the country, 46% of all agriculture is exported from our East Coast ports. This is not the time for a strike. This administration must bring these parties to the table and reach an agreement.”

Spear, whose organization is moving more than 72% of the nation’s tons of freight, criticized President Biden for saying he would not intervene to prevent the strike, saying collective bargaining hasn’t happened since June. The International Longshoremen’s Association, the union representing U.S. dockworkers, warned that 45,000 members could walk off the job at midnight, a massive work freeze that could essentially close about 36 ports on the East and Gulf Coasts that handle about half of the goods shipped. inside and outside the country.

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The union criticized the United States Maritime Alliance for failing to reach an agreement on the pay package before the contract expired. But the attack comes just days after Hurricane Helene hit the southeastern United States with strong winds and heavy rain, causing massive flooding and killing as many as 120 people. Hundreds remain missing because communications are cut.

“This is in line with what I said, which is that these are people who are going to need to buy new assets, rebuild, rebuild, buy new cars. And there’s also the question of job opportunities,” Chloe Demrovsky, executive at the SPS Center for Global Affairs at New York University and a member of FEMA’s National Advisory Council, told Fox News Digital.

“So if this leads to people getting laid off or furloughed or stores closing, that’s going to create a problem where people are already financially strained in so many ways,” he said, referring to the strike. “If they don’t have the ability to earn money, to recover their lives, to rebuild their lives, that creates a major problem, and especially if we have problems with American exports that could impact the job market in agriculture and in other key sectors. And so that would certainly include our ability to recover effectively.”

“This would put us in polycrisis mode,” Demrovsky said of the impending strike. “We’re already in the active deployment phase. It’s going to be a very challenging hurricane season. Helene is going to be very expensive, with major declarations in multiple states. And that would have a very significant impact on resilience, because it’s almost over.” goods.”

He expected potentially higher prices for hurricane victims who need to rebuild their homes or buy back essential goods or even vehicles, pointing out that the companies that import the most to ports expected to be hit by the strike are Walmart, IKEA, Home Depot, Dollar General, among many others in the automotive industry, including Hyundai.

Employees and relatives of the owner of the Jiffy Food and Liquor Store clean up after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Cedar Key, Florida, on September 28, 2024. (CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)

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“If you were evacuated with only a toothbrush, you have to buy back all these goods. So if you’re going to go there, you know all these places I just mentioned, and everyone goes there, then we’ll probably see empty ones on the shelves over time, prices higher,” Demrovsky said. “We’re just getting started keep inflation under control. It is likely to increase in the event of a dock strike, in addition to an active response in so many states across such a large area.”

He noted that residents in areas of North Carolina and Tennessee that experienced more inland flooding from Hurricane Helene are probably not as accustomed to stocking up for a hurricane as are people affected in Florida or other coastal areas, so those victims are more likely to have to. go out and purchase goods immediately, causing further strain on supply chains.

Storm damage near Biltmore Village following Hurricane Helene on September 28, 2024, in Asheville, North Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images/Getty Images)

Although Walmart is already a major leader in hurricane response and will have to reroute shipments away from stores that experienced flooding, Demrovsky said the strike further complicates their operations. “The companies I mentioned have very robust operational resilience plans and training courses, but when you’re in some sort of poly or permanent crisis, it becomes much harder to keep up, and something has to give from somewhere” , he said. “They’re already doing a lot of this during hurricane season, but having this on top of that makes it even more difficult. So they’re going to have to do some really interesting dances to make sure they continue.” keep shelves at least reasonably well stocked.”

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore has already created a serious strain on the automotive industry’s supply chain, as the Port of Baltimore is a major import area for the automotive industry due to “its port of roll- on, roll-off,” he said. That port has also not fully recovered from the crisis Covid-19 pandemic and is facing further changes with the demand for electric vehicles.

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“It’s a very complex time for the automotive industry’s supply chains in general. So this is just another nail in the nail, making things very difficult,” Demrovsky said.