Supply chains could be disrupted by striking dockworkers at the country’s East Coast and Gulf Coast seaboards, but the Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that preliminary assessments indicate that the impact “should be limited” for medicines, medical devices and infant formula.
HHS said that its Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response and the Food and Drug Administration “have and will continue working closely with HHS to quickly identify potential shortages of lifesaving products impacted by a strike to determine the cause and work with manufacturers and distributors to address local, regional and national needs as they arise.”
Approximately 450,000 workers representing the International Longshoremen’s Association union walked off the job on Tuesday, “cutting off vital trade arteries,” Reuters reported.
ILA, the largest union of maritime workers in North America, is at odds with the US Maritime Alliance employer group over wages. USMX is an alliance of container carriers, direct employers and port associations serving the East and Gulf coasts of the United States.
“The stoppage is the first coast-wide ILA strike since 1977 and halts the flow of about half the nation’s ocean shipping. A two-week strike could mean that ports would not return to normal operations until 2025, according to Sea-Intelligence, a Copenhagen-based shipping advisory firm,” Reuters reported.
“Our current offer of a nearly 50% wage increase exceeds every other recent union settlement, while addressing inflation and recognizing the ILA’s hard work to keep the global economy running,” USMX stated. “We look forward to hearing from the Union about how we can return to the table and actually bargain, which is the only way to reach a resolution.”
In response, ILA said that the stated offer of an increase “fails to address the demands of our members adequately. They might claim a significant increase, but they conveniently omit that many of our members are operating multi-million-dollar container-handling equipment for a mere $20 an hour.”
ILA pointed out that the minimum wage in some states already is $15.
“Furthermore, our members endure a grueling six-year wage progression before they can even reach the top wage tier, regardless of how many hours they work or the effort they put in,” the union added.
The White House is decidedly on the side of the union.
“As our nation climbs out of the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, dockworkers will play an essential role in getting communities the resources they need. Now is not the time for ocean carriers to refuse to negotiate a fair wage for these essential workers while raking in record profits,” said President Joe Biden, who made history a year ago by joining striking auto workers on the picket line. “My administration will be monitoring for any price gouging activity that benefits foreign ocean carriers, including those on the USMX board.”
A Baxter International plant in North Carolina responsible for making IV fluids for most US hospitals is among the major casualties from Hurricane Helene. The closure “illustrated yet again how taking a single plant offline can trigger a domino effect felt around the world,” Axios reported.
“It’s a very serious situation,” said Allan Coukell, chief government affairs officer for the hospital-owned drugmaker Civica Rx, as reported by Axios. Civica Rx is addressing supply chain constraints within its consortium of health system and pharmaceutical company members.
