Will the presidential election be decided here?

In the middle of the crucial phase of the presidential election campaign, the USA could be paralyzed by a major strike. In 36 ports on the East and Gulf coasts, workers are threatening to go on strike if the employers are not prepared to sign a new collective agreement by September 30th.

The approximately 45,000 dock workers are demanding regulations that protect them from job losses due to automated work processes. 60 percent of shipping traffic in the USA is handled in the ports. A strike would have a “devastating impact” on the US economy, the employers warned last week. A study by Oxford Economics found that a two-week strike could lead to supply chains being disrupted by 2025. International shipping companies have imposed export embargoes on the affected ports so that their goods do not get stuck in the USA in the event of a strike.

The labor dispute could therefore have a decisive influence on the presidential election campaign. “The biggest wild card in the presidential election that no one is talking about?” wrote the CEO of the logistics company Flexport, Ryan Petersen, on X. The looming port strike could paralyze all ports on the East and Gulf coasts shortly before the election.

Most analysts do not expect President Joe Biden to intervene in the labor dispute. Two years ago, Biden intervened in the looming railroad strike that threatened to shut down the country. The so-called Taft-Hartley Act gives the president the power to impose an 80-day strike pause. But Biden has said he does not intend to use the law given the potential impact on union votes.

The Biden administration is said to be already holding intensive talks with the union leadership to prevent strikes. Election polls give Trump greater economic authority. For Harris, a dispute with her union clientele would be a disaster, especially since other labor organizations such as the Teamsters truckers' union have already expressed their support for Trump.

“We must remember that Trump could try to exploit a strike by linking it to inflation,” John Brennan III, former chairman of the Federal Transportation Administration under President Trump, told Fright Waves. “I don't know how that will play out, but as a Democrat, I don't want a port strike on my voting bingo card.”