Supply chain expert says dockworker strike is costing $5 billion a day

October 3rd, 2024

Striking dock workers hold up signs on the picket. — Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association went on strike on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. (Annie Mulligan/Associated Press)

More than 45,000 dockworkers from Texas up to Maine are on strike. That includes workers at Georgia’s Port of Savannah.

Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association are demanding higher pay and job protection from automation by the shipping companies that employ them. The strike went into effect on Tuesday night at midnight and no negotiations have been made.

On Thursday’s edition of “Closer Look,” John Haber, the strategic channel partner at Transportation Insight, talked with show host Rose Scott about how the strike could impact the economy and disrupt the supply chain.

Haber explained the strike is causing a loss of about $5 billion a day and expressed the need for companies and employees to compromise. Haber said if the strike continues it will have an impact on consumer goods, auto parts and food, which will cause greater shortages in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. He also noted if the strike continues into November, it would have a major impact on the holiday shopping season.