Dockworkers in the Tri-State are bracing for a possible strike.
At midnight Tuesday, some 45,000 dockworkers at 14 ports across the east and Gulf Coast could be on the picket line.
The two sides in the dispute have not met since June, and as of now, no talks are scheduled .
It’s feared a walkout could send the nation’s supply chain into chaos.
“It’s estimated that a strike would cost somewhere around $5 billion a day,” said Margaret Kidd, director of supply chain and logistics at the University of Houston.
Negotiations between the Longshoremen’s Union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance representing the shippers and the ports are at a standstill.
The ports from Texas to New England are responsible for nearly 35% of all U.S. imports and exports.
According to the National Retail Federation, “A one-day shutdown takes three to five days to recover from. The longer it goes, the worse it gets.”
So what do the union members want? Higher wages and protections from automation.
The Maritime Alliance is offering a 40% pay increase, but the Longshoreman’s Union is asking for a 70% raise.