WEBVTT - Instant Reaction: US Dockworkers Suspend Strike

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news from Bloomberg World Headquarters

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<v Speaker 1>in New York. I'm Doug Prisoner, and we begin with

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<v Speaker 1>this breaking news. The union representing striking US dock workers

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<v Speaker 1>at East and Gulf Coast ports has reached a deal

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<v Speaker 1>to suspend its strike until January fifteenth. Let's get a

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<v Speaker 1>closer look now with Bloomberg's Kate Davidson, Managing editor for

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<v Speaker 1>US ECO Policy, joining us from Washington, d C. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for making time, Kate. As I understand it, both sides

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<v Speaker 1>have reached a tentative agreement on wages, right, although this

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<v Speaker 1>is step one and trying to get to a new

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<v Speaker 1>six year contract, right, that's right.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, one of the bigger issues that was really

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<v Speaker 2>holding up an agreement here had to do with automation.

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<v Speaker 2>The union workers or some forty seven thousand dock workers

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<v Speaker 2>at these ports, you know, stretching from Houston to Miami

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<v Speaker 2>to Boston. One of the things that they wanted, we're

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<v Speaker 2>greater protections against the kind of automation that we've seen

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<v Speaker 2>at ports on the West coast, and so that was

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<v Speaker 2>a real sticking point. This tentative agreement doesn't address that,

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<v Speaker 2>but it does go some way toward addressing some of

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<v Speaker 2>the wage demands. So they've agreed, as you said, to

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<v Speaker 2>a temporary deal that would at least allow them to

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<v Speaker 2>start moving cargo again. And that was under some you know,

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<v Speaker 2>fairly intense pressure from the White House, I think, over

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<v Speaker 2>the past few days. And so we in the meantime

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<v Speaker 2>between now and January fifteenth, I have to keep working

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<v Speaker 2>on that broader contract agreement.

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<v Speaker 1>So will work us be back on the docks tomorrow?

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<v Speaker 2>That's certainly what it sounds like. You know, the International

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<v Speaker 2>Longshoreman's Association said it had agreed to extend the contract

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<v Speaker 2>and said work will resume. So I don't think we

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<v Speaker 2>know the exact details. We know that they've sort of

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<v Speaker 2>began slowing down operations on Monday ahead of the midnight deadline,

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<v Speaker 2>so imagine it will take them a little bit of

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<v Speaker 2>time to get things up and running. But yeah, I

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<v Speaker 2>think that I think that some of those dozens of

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<v Speaker 2>ships that we've seen that are now anchored off to

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<v Speaker 2>these ports where we'll start getting moving again.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, give me a sense of scale, what does that

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<v Speaker 1>look like? Hard to imagine how many cargo vessels are involved.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so we know that it had gone that we

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<v Speaker 2>had seen those numbers and then ticking up over the

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<v Speaker 2>last few days. Since just since Monday, I think there

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<v Speaker 2>was something like nineteen ships that were just waiting off

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<v Speaker 2>the off the coast of some of these ports, and

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<v Speaker 2>as of this morning, I think the latest CALLI was

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<v Speaker 2>up up to forty three or so. So obviously they're

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<v Speaker 2>just unloading many, many, many, many containers of goods. I mean,

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<v Speaker 2>these are these are cars, these are you know, clothing,

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<v Speaker 2>it's auto parts, it's fresh fruit, all of these things.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean that some of the estimates that we saw

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<v Speaker 2>for that their lost economic activity was as much as

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<v Speaker 2>a billion to five billion dollars a day.

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<v Speaker 1>Was it already beginning to impact to the way that

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<v Speaker 1>cargo is priced.

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<v Speaker 2>So it's interesting there was some debate about that because

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<v Speaker 2>it looked like some of the prices had gone up

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<v Speaker 2>a bit. But we were starting to hear some claims

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<v Speaker 2>from some of the union voices and their allies that

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<v Speaker 2>the shipping companies, the shipping lines were price gouging. We

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<v Speaker 2>saw the White House warning them against this. There were

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<v Speaker 2>some pretty high figures being tossed out there, and some

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<v Speaker 2>of these shipping lines pushed back on that they said

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<v Speaker 2>that the prices were not going as high as some

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<v Speaker 2>people were saying. Oh, they called it misinformation. So certainly

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<v Speaker 2>there was starting to be some impact, but nothing major

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<v Speaker 2>and certainly not to the highs that we saw during

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<v Speaker 2>the pandemic supply chain crunch.

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<v Speaker 1>When we think about the approaching holidays fourth quarter, this

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<v Speaker 1>is a critical time right for moving cargo. Do we

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<v Speaker 1>know that supply chain problems have been alleviated up until

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<v Speaker 1>this point.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, So it seems as though, you know, a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of the companies involved had gotten much better some of

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<v Speaker 2>the issues that we did see during the pandemic, and

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<v Speaker 2>they're much better prepared. The conversations around this potential strike

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<v Speaker 2>and these negotiations that had stalled back in June were

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<v Speaker 2>pretty well known, and we had started to see companies

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<v Speaker 2>importing a lot more. We saw them stockpiling inventories because

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<v Speaker 2>of this issue and also in anticipation of potentially higher

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<v Speaker 2>tariffs that they were sort of bracing for later in

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<v Speaker 2>the year or if next year, if there's a change

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<v Speaker 2>in the administration in the White House of President former

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<v Speaker 2>President Trump comes back in. We were starting to get

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<v Speaker 2>a sense that companies were preparing for this a little

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<v Speaker 2>bit so, I think that the retailers had taken some

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<v Speaker 2>steps in are likely pretty well positioned. There shouldn't be

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<v Speaker 2>a major impact, but I think we will find out

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<v Speaker 2>more details over the coming week.

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<v Speaker 1>Kate, thanks so much for joining us a Bloomberg's Kate Davidson,

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<v Speaker 1>Managing editor of US Eco Policy, helping us understand our

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<v Speaker 1>breaking story the union representing striking US stock workers at

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<v Speaker 1>East and Gulf Coast ports reaching a deal to suspend

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<v Speaker 1>to strike until January fifteenth,