Longshoremen negotiators informed the press on Sunday that talks have stalled and that the October 1 strike is going to happen Tuesday. Retailers brace for what is expected to be massive shortages affecting multiple industries.
A prolonged strike would force companies to pay shippers for the delays, and goods could arrive too late for the high point of the holiday shopping season.
Miami Port Now, after seemingly rushing to address every crisis, top Biden administration officials met with port operators on Friday and told them they should negotiate with the union ahead of Tuesday, according to a White House official who insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing meeting.
The National Grain and Feed Association also urged Biden to take action to avert a strike, which would come just as harvest season gets underway.
Their push has put Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, in a sensitive position: Both have courted union support and don't want to be seen as pressuring the longshoremen to reach a settlement.
Under the Taft-Hartley Act, Biden could seek a court order to suspend the strike for an 80-day cooling-off period.
Biden and Congress did step in two years ago to block a looming freight rail strike and force those workers to accept a deal because of widespread fears that a rail strike would have damaged the economy.
Alex Hertel-Fernandez, an associate professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University who served as a Labor Department official under Biden, suggested that the administration will follow the playbook it used in talks last year between West Coast ports and the union there: Mediating negotiations without directly intervening.
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