WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Joe Biden has urged port owners to 'sit at the table' to find ways to end dockworkers' strike.
Talking to reporters before Air Force One departure at Joint Base Andrews, Biden lashed at the consortium of six port owners that control all the ports along the East Coast, and the Gulf Coast.
Calling the strike 'a man-made disaster', Biden said the port owners made 'incredible profits - over 800 percent profit since the pandemic, and the owners are making tens of millions of dollars in this'.
'The last thing they need is to profit off of this. It's time for them to sit at the table and get this strike done,' he told reporters.
Around 45,000 dockworkers have gone on indefinite strike at seaports across the US East Coast and Gulf Coast Tuesday after the United States Maritime Alliance and the International Longshoremen's Association failed to reach a settlement on a new Master Contract.
The ILA union members hit the picket line after they rejected a wage package offered by the Ocean Carriers, represented by USMX, saying that it was unacceptable.
USMX said it offered to increase wages by nearly 50 percent, triple employer contributions to employee retirement plans, strengthen its health care options, and retain the current language around automation and semi-automation.
ILA alleged that the shippers are now charging $30,000 for a full container, a whopping increase from $6,000 per container a few weeks ago, resulting in increased costs to American consumers.
The strike, affecting 36 ports, would be a massive blow to the U.S. economy as those ports handle nearly half of the nation's ocean imports, affecting the availability of several goods ranging from food items to automobiles.
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called on ocean carriers to withdraw their surcharges.
'No one should exploit a disruption for profit, especially at a time when whole regions of the country are recovering from Hurricane Helene,' he said in a statement.
Buttigieg warned that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are closely monitoring any attempts by companies to opportunistically raise prices, including ocean shippers or others, during the labor dispute at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports.
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