The dockworkers' strike is a test for Biden — and complicates an already dizzying 2024 presidential race

Throughout his presidency, Joe Biden has leaned into his pro-union policies.

JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

• Longshore workers are on strike at ports all along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico.
• President Joe Biden has said he won't have the federal government intervene.
• But the strike could pose several issues for Vice President Harris in her presidential campaign.

There's a labor storm a-brewing off the East Coast — but don't expect to see President Joe Biden stepping in anytime soon.

On Monday, dockworkers at 36 ports across the East and Gulf Coasts walked off the job. The strike comes after negotiations between the International Longshoremen's Association — which represents around 45,000 members in the region — and the US Maritime Alliance, a coalition of container carriers and port associations, failed to reach an agreement on a new contract. Workers' demands included higher wages and promises of job security amid increasing automation in the shipping industry.

The labor stoppage could end up costing the economy billions, and snarl supply chains in the process. But the strike is more than just a test of the economy; it's also a test of Biden, who, if he chose to do so, could step in and use the power of government to break the strike.

That's because of the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, a controversial aspect of US labor law. Under that legislation, presidents are given the power to intervene and seek a court injunction to force unions to return to work and reopen negotiations in situations when they deem national health and security at risk. In 2002, then-President George W. Bush stepped in to do just that during a West Coast port strike.

But don't expect Biden to do the same. Despite calls from retailers and manufacturers to invoke the act, Biden said on September 30 he won't intervene, giving the rationale that "there's collective bargaining, and I don't believe in Taft-Hartley." It's a position consistent with his longtime efforts to support labor.

Cathy Creighton, the director of Cornell University's Industrial and Labor Relations Buffalo Co-Lab, told BI that while Biden is saying he won't step in right now, that doesn't mean he won't if the strike continues. Even so, the Biden administration is likely not inclined to supersede what workers want, she said.

"It's an employee's decision to strike," Creighton said. "They vote. So that would mean overcoming the vote of tens of thousands of workers who wanted to strike. And so it's probably not this administration's inclination to do that."

Recent history shows that if he later decided to intervene in the strike, it could infuriate workers. As Creighton noted, Biden received blowback from the labor movement after asking Congress to intervene in a potential rail strike in December 2022.

"The right to strike is fundamental and no president can claim to be pro-union unless he respects that right," Hamilton Nolan, a labor journalist and author of "The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor," told BI.

"By not intervening he will demonstrate that even large strikes in logistically important industries can play out like any other strike, and be settled to the benefit of the workers, and life will carry on," Nolan said. "If the government always cuts off the ability of unions to carry out the most impactful strike, that is a terrible and detrimental act of limiting how strong workers in this country can ever be."

The ILA did not respond to BI's request for comment. In a statement, USMX said that they have "demonstrated a commitment to doing our part to end the completely avoidable ILA strike. 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."

In an October 1 statement, Biden said that he has urged USMX to present a "fair offer" to ILA workers — and that collective bargaining is the best path forward. "As our nation climbs out of the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, dockworkers will play an essential role in getting communities the resources they need," Biden said. "Now is not the time for ocean carriers to refuse to negotiate a fair wage for these essential workers while raking in record profits."

The longshore workers also have the strong support of Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who said Biden is "right" in not invoking Taft-Hartley to curb the strike.

"Dock workers are striking against excessive corporate greed," the senator said on X. "The shipping industry has made $400 billion in profits since 2020. It's time for dock workers to be treated with respect, not contempt."

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are in a political fight over who would best handle the economy.

MATTHEW HATCHER/AFP via Getty Images

The strike throws another wrench into the 2024 race

The strike has the potential to further upend what has already been a dizzying presidential race.

Vice President Kamala Harris is now carrying the banner of the Biden administration's pro-union policies as the Democratic presidential nominee. But Harris' union ties are not as deep as those enjoyed by Biden.

Last month, the Teamsters declined to endorse either Harris or Trump in the presidential race, a major blow to Harris' attempts to consolidate union support. It was the first time since 1996 that the Teamsters did not back a candidate in a presidential election. Trump saw the move as a victory for his campaign, as an electronic poll conducted during part of the summer showed the former president with substantial support among rank-and-file members.

Despite the non-endorsement from the Teamsters executive board, Harris did receive the backing of Teamsters local unions in key battleground states including Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. And Harris has also been endorsed by the AFL-CIO, the United Auto Workers, and the United Steelworkers, which puts a considerable amount of union muscle behind her campaign.

But the economic fallout from the dockworker strike throws another wrench into an already tough situation for Democrats.

"It's going to be a political football where Republicans are already saying that Biden needs to step in because it's an economic issue," Creighton said, "and it reveals the farcical nature of the Republican Party saying they're on the side of the workers."

Harris has been eager to prove that her union bona fides are just as strong as Biden's, and has so far not strayed from the president as they both monitor the ongoing strike. But a work stoppage of a month or longer could lead to higher prices and shortages that would impact consumers on Election Day.

In most major polls taken this year, voters have consistently said they trust Trump more on the economy, but Harris has cut into his lead on the issue in recent weeks.

So any voter frustration over the strike could be perilous for her campaign as both candidates continue to fight over who would be the better economic steward.

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