EJ Antoni
The failed policies of the Biden-Harris administration gave America 40-year-high inflation, labor unrest, and now potentially the costliest strike in American history. By directing its 45,000 members to walk off the job, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) union is crippling eastern seaboard ports and costing $5 billion per day.
In October 2021, I warned that the tax-and-spend agenda of the Biden-Harris administration would set an inflationary fire and torch Americans’ finances, resulting in labor unrest. By the fall of 2023, we had the largest auto strike in history as the United Auto Workers (UAW) demanded higher wages to counter their losses from inflation.
While the UAW strike was disruptive to the auto industry, it didn’t cause severe economic harm or noticeably impact the consumer. The ILA walk-off is an order of magnitude worse, with the potential for severe disruptions to the economy if it lasts more than just a few days.
The 36 ports on the Gulf and East coasts handle 55% of all U.S. container traffic and large volumes of exports, including about half of U.S. pork and almost three-quarters of U.S. poultry. About half of all imported fruits and vegetables come through these ports as well. In pharmaceuticals, nine out of 10 imports and seven out of 10 exports are being disrupted.
In short, America’s international trade has been severely hamstrung, with consumers and businesses alike about to get hit hard if this labor dispute isn’t resolved quickly.
The primary reason for this and other labor unrest over the last three years has been the stratospheric rise in the cost of living, which stems directly from mismanagement by the Biden-Harris administration.
Biden and Harris pushed for runaway federal deficits, fueled with newly created money from the Federal Reserve, destroyed one-fifth of the dollar’s value in less than four years. » Read More
https://www.heritage.org/budget-and-spending/commentary/who-gets-the-blame-the-port-strike-hint-its-not-labor-or-management