Coalition Urges President to Prevent East Coast Port Strike
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
(American Meat Institute) AMI today joined a
coalition of meat and poultry industry groups
urging President Barack Obama to intervene and
prevent a strike at container ports from Maine
to Texas. The current labor contract between
the International Longshoremen’s Association
(ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) is
set to expire on December 29. The two sides
have been negotiating a new contract since
April with little progress. The letter states, “A
strike of any kind at ports along the East and
Gulf Coast could prove devastating for the U.S.
economy, particularly considering the economic
setback suffered by the ports, especially the
Port of New York/New Jersey, as a result of
super storm Sandy. We call upon you to use all
means necessary, including Taft-Hartley, to
keep the two sides at the negotiating table and
head off a coast-wide strike." U.S. exports of beef, pork,
poultry and lamb products surpassed $16 billion
in 2011 and the meat processing industry
employs over 500,000 people. Members of the coalition
sent a similar letter earlier this month urging
the resolution of the strike at the Ports of
Los Angeles and Long Beach. A deal there was
reached after eight days. The full impact of
that strike is still being calculated, but
economists estimated that a 10 day lockout of
west coast ports in 2002 cost the U.S. economy
$1 billion for each day of the
lockout. The full coalition letter
is available here:
http://www.meatami.com/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/83640
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