Dockworkers and ports still can’t come to an agreement. Major businesses in Massachusetts are starting to hurt, and soon customers could end up paying for the stalemate.
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Striking dockworkers and the ports they are picketing could not come to an agreement Wednesday.
The International Longshoremen's Association went on strike just after midnight Tuesday after the expiration of the union's contract with the ports. The workers are calling for higher wages and protections from automation.
With uncertainty over when the strike will end and the economic impacts it may have, businesses in Massachusetts and elsewhere are hoping a deal can soon be reached.
"We're expecting to see things come close to, you know, COVID-level, pandemic-level headaches in the supply chain if this is not resolved in short order," said David Shipps-Kelly of International Forest Products, based in Foxborough and owned by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
More on the dockworkers' strike
The decades-old top-five exporter from the U.S., selling products like pulp and paper, has always relied on the Port of Boston.
"It's essentially stopping our ability to move product, and that is costing us in both our international competitiveness as well as the dollars and cents of our day-to-day business," Shipps-Kelly said.
As of Wednesday, ports ownership group USMX said it made a wage hike offer of near 50%, which was rejected by the union.
"The ILA has rejected their so-called 'nearly 50% wage increase' because it fails to address the demands of our members adequately," the union splashed back in a statement.
Dockworkers are picketing at major ports from Maine to Texas.
