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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Acting Labor Secretary
Julie Su and Lael Brainard, director of the White House National
Economic Council, told members of the United States Maritime
Alliance that they should be at the table with the union and
negotiating ahead of the contract expiring. That's according to
a White House official who insisted on anonymity to discuss the
private meeting.
Administration officials have delivered a similar message to the
union this week.
The White House is trying to encourage the alliance, which
represents port operators and shipping carriers, to reach what
both sides would consider to be a fair agreement with the
International Longshoremen's Association. There is the
possibility of a strike once the contract lapses, with unionized
workers objecting to the addition of new technologies to U.S.
ports that they say could ultimately cause job losses.
President Joe Biden's team does not see a potential strike as
necessarily disruptive to the economy in the short term, since
retail inventories have increased as companies planned for the
contract dispute. The federal government also has additional
tools to monitor supply chains that it lacked during the
COVID-19 pandemic when long wait times at ports and higher
shipping costs pushed up inflation.
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