Ports shut down from Maine to Texas as 45,000 dock workers launch strike over pay & automation

Dock workers from Maine to Texas have walked out on the job at all East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, launching the first strike of its kind in almost 50 years.

The International Longshoremen’s Association represents some 45,000 workers at 36 ports who are demanding higher wages and guarantees that jobs won’t be automated.

“This is a time of labour mobilisation in this country,” says Peter Goodman, New York Times global economics correspondent, who explains President Joe Biden is caught between union pressure to back the strike and the threat of consumer prices rising while shipping is disrupted.

“We’re only weeks away from a presidential election that could very well hinge on economic sentiments and unhappiness over inflation.”

Produced by: Democracy Now!