Longshoreman Union Strike Could Affect EU/UK Games Shipping To USA

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) has threatened to strike if no deal can be secured before their current contract expires at midnight, September 30. Fourteen major ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coast from Texas to Massachusetts would be affected by the walkout with 45,000 workers going on strike. This would be the first East Coast dock strike since 1944.

Previous disruptions in shipping in the United States had a profound impact on the tabletop gaming industry as costs skyrocketed from 2020 to 2022. While much of the shipping for the tabletop industry comes through the West Coast as manufacturing in Asia is most common, the lack of available ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast will move traffic to the West Coast, causing similar delays and issues with container availability seen during the previous shipping crisis.

Additionally, any European and UK publishers who print books in Europe and then ship to the US across the Atlantic could potentially be affected.

The affected ports would include Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; Charleston, South Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; Miami, Florida; Houston, Texas; Mobile, Alabama; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York/New Jersey; Norfolk, Virginia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Savannah, Georgia; Tampa, Florida; and Wilmington, Delaware.

Negotiations came to a halt in June after the ILA accused the United States Maritime Alliance, the organization representing the ports, of violating the current work contract by using automation at ports including at Mobile, Alabama. The technology, including auto-gate systems that automated the process of allowing trucks into the ports, was allegedly used to replace union labor.

The main sticking point of negotiations is salary as East Coast longshoremen earn a base wage of $39/hour, which is far less than their peers on the West Coast who earn $54.85 and will receive an increase to $60.85 in 2027. The ILA is also demanding healthcare improvements and a ban on automation replacing union labor.

A strike could impact more than 65% of all exports and over 55% of all imports in the United States, causing massive delays in product shipments with JP Morgan analysts estimating an economic impact of $5 billion per day.

More information is available via coverage from these links from Associated Press, The Guardian, CBS News, and ICv2.

 

[Abstruse]

Also, it's not like the items are going to stop being shipped. They'll just go to the west coast ports. Which will be overloaded. And cause issues with containers. Which will cause back-ups similar to what happened in 2020-2021. Which is going to increase shipping costs across the board and cause delays for any products.

Unless something is 100% manufactured in the United States from the raw materials to the finished product and every step of the process (which is shockingly rare), it's going to be directly affected by a strike. And even domestic shipments will likely suffer from knock-on effects in global shipping overall.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

If you use any commodity which comes from the UK or Europe it will. But I respect an 'only imported via the west coast' lifestyle--more hardcore than vegans, but if you can stick to it, good for you! The benefits, I'm sure, are immeasurable. Literally.

What do you think the impact will be for folks not in North America? Maybe that's what Queer Venger meant?

Also, had not heard that ILWU was in bankruptcy. I used to live near LA Harbor - my area of Los angeles was literally called Harbor City - and had several longshoremen friends down there (lost touch with most of them after moving away in 2006).

Here's a good overview of how the bankruptcy came about.

How a fight over 2 jobs bankrupted union of 40,000 dockworkers

The Chapter 11 filing of the ILWU dockworkers union dates back to a dispute over two electrician jobs in Oregon a decade ago.

www.freightwaves.com

 

[bedir than]

What do you think the impact will be for folks not in North America?

The East and Gulf US ports are about 10% of global container shipping, and more than all but four non-US countries. A strike will slow availability of containers and ships globally

 

[Morrus]

What do you think the impact will be for folks not in North America? Maybe that's what Queer Venger meant?

Shipping containers move about. The system works on the constant motion of the containers. A logjam affects the whole system. Delays and prices go up everywhere.

 

[Staffan]

Shipping containers move about. The system works on the constant motion of the containers. A logjam affects the whole system. Delays and prices go up everywhere.

Wasn't container availability one of the major reasons for the spike in shipping costs a few years back? As I recall, the problem was that China kept exporting things during Covid but didn't buy much in return, leading to a lack of containers in China and a surplus everywhere else.

 

[Morrus]

Unless something is 100% manufactured in the United States from the raw materials to the finished product and every step of the process (which is shockingly rare), it's going to be directly affected by a strike. And even domestic shipments will likely suffer from knock-on effects in global shipping overall.

It's not just a local issue. Those shipping containers and ships held up in US ports are needed elsewhere. They're a finite resource. It will be a global issue. Containers are limited; space in them is acquired by a bidding process. And when available space shrinks, costs go up. In our tiny corner of the world, Kickstarters go bankrupt as instead of $4K and 3 weeks to ship a container of books it now costs $20K and 3 months, and that's not what they budgeted for.

It's a global network very vulnerable to logjams whether those are in the US, China, Europe, or elsewhere.

 

[Morrus]

Wasn't container availability one of the major reasons for the spike in shipping costs a few years back? As I recall, the problem was that China kept exporting things during Covid but didn't buy much in return, leading to a lack of containers in China and a surplus everywhere else.

Yup. Containers have to keep moving or it all falls apart.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

Yup. Containers have to keep moving or it all falls apart.

Pity you can't load a container full of containers and ship it to where containers are needed.

 

[agrayday]

I would also add the Suez and the Panama have major impacts on how the container system ships around the world.

The shipping container shortage is expected to continue until at least 2030. Ocean Freight Rejections compound this issue, of which is at an all time high.

 

[bedir than]

ILA announced that they will strike. There are no talks scheduled today

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-east-coast-port-strike-looms-tuesday-with-no-talks-scheduled-2024-09-30/