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Sat. Oct 5th, 2024

The Florida port strike affects: Cruises, Canaveral, Jacksonville, Miami

The Florida port strike affects: Cruises, Canaveral, Jacksonville, Miami


45,000 union workers walked off the job after labor negotiations stalled between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the American Maritime Alliance.

Longshoremen in ports from Maine to Texas are officially on strike.

USA TODAY reported that 36 ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast were closed as 45,000 union workers walked off the job after labor negotiations between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) stalled. The strike only exacerbates temporary port closures in places like Florida, the Carolinas and Georgia in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

The ILA strike is the first at these ports since 1977 and could cost the economy as much as $5 billion a day, upend the holiday shopping of millions of Americans and determine whether many small and medium-sized businesses and farmers turn a profit or not. year to lose money – experts say.

“Every day of inactivity that a ship does not come into port costs money, sometimes a lot of it… which ultimately goes to consumers,” Stamatis Tsantanis, president and chief executive of shippers Seanergy Maritime and United Maritime, said in a statement.

Here’s what we know about Florida ports.

Will the port strike impact PortMiami, Florida?

At PortMiami, the largest goods entering and leaving the port are fruit and vegetables, clothing and machinery.

Will the port strike affect Port Everglades, Florida?

According to a CBS News article published on Tuesday, October 1, Port Everglades reported that 41% of container cargo would be affected by the strike. As the story goes, this will have no impact on gasoline supplies to Port Everglades and South Florida’s massive cruise industry.

The longshore workers’ strike is expected to impact cargo operations in the eastern United States and could negatively impact the supply of a wide range of goods at grocery stores and other retail stores.

However, Port Canaveral will not be directly affected because the port’s cargo operators use non-union labor to load and unload cargo ships docked there – and are not members of the striking International Longshoremen’s Association.

Port Canaveral, one of the busiest ports in the world, is home to Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line and others.

Port Canaveral is also home to SpaceX drone ships such as Just Read the Instructions and A Shortfall of Gravitas, which recover the stages of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets in the Atlantic.

Will the port strike impact Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Disney cruises from Florida?

Officials with Port Canaveral and the ILA union say Port Canaveral will not be impacted.

Paul Kellem, representative of the International Longshoremen’s Association union 1359/1860 in Port Canaveral, said cargo operators there now employ non-union labor to operate their ships.

Kellem said his local union, which has about 375 members, loads and unloads passenger luggage and ship supplies from cruise ships at Port Canaveral. He said these operations would not be affected because the ILA does not strike against cruise lines or military operations.

ILA President Harold Daggett said ILA longshoremen will continue to work on passenger cruise ships at all ILA ports “so as not to inconvenience tens of thousands of Americans who have booked trips in advance.”

“We understand that many families plan and pay for cruise vacations for over a year, so we do not want them to feel disappointed or inconvenienced in any way,” Daggett said in a statement.

The ILA does not plan to picket at Port Canaveral, although Kellem said members of his local chapter plan to picket on their days off at Florida ports affected by the strike, including Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Tampa.

Eight cargo ships will dock at Port Canaveral through Oct. 6, carrying a wide range of goods, including juice concentrates, aggregates, gasoline, lumber, cinders and granite.

According to the Florida Times-Union, JaxPort said in a press release that it is “closely monitoring the situation regarding the International Longshoremen’s Association contract with the United States Maritime Alliance and we remain in close contact with terminal operators who rely on ILA labor.” We expect the strike to impact approximately one-third of JaxPort’s business, particularly the international container volume handled by SSA Jacksonville, as well as the international vehicle volume.”

By meerna

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