BOSTON – About 300 dockworkers in Boston are now on strike , part of the 25,000 union members who walked off the job from Massachusetts to Texas Tuesday.
A small group formed a picket line outside Conley Terminal, the main cargo port in South Boston, just after 12:01 a.m. when the International Longshoremen’s Association’s six-year contract with the United States Maritime Alliance ended. The port will remain closed until the strike ends.
“Could be catastrophic for the holidays”
A one-day strike has little to no impact, but eventually the strike will trickle down to small businesses like Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, where owner Julia Hallman knew it was coming, but not soon enough.
“You see a storm in a distance, and you can’t really stop it, you’re just hoping that maybe it veers and misses you,” Hallman said.
Imports are nearly 75% of this unique business, and the strike will impact everything from the wine, jam, and cheese on the shelves, down to paper products and gloves.