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[text/observer.com yang rong]

on the evening of october 3, local time, the international longshoremen's association (ila) and the united states maritime union (usmx) issued a joint statement announcing that major port workers on the east coast and gulf coast of the united states have reached a preliminary agreement with port owners on wage issues. the "largest-scale" strike action in the past 50 years, which started in the early morning of the 1st, will be "immediately stopped" and all work covered by the main contract will be resumed.

the two sides agreed to extend the main contract, which expired on september 30, until january 15 next year, which means that any possible strikes and potential supply shortages of goods will be postponed until after the presidential election in november. us media said that this result also defused a "political time bomb" for the democrats, especially candidate and vice president harris.

according to the associated press, when asked about the interim agreement on the evening of the 3rd, u.s. president biden said: "thanks to the grace of god and the goodwill of neighbors, this agreement will continue." biden said in a subsequent statement china praised the move by both parties as "patriotic" and ensured the supply of key supplies for recovery and reconstruction after hurricane helene.

about three-fifths of container freight volume destined for the united states travels through the east coast and gulf coast, according to the national association of manufacturers (nam). the new york times said on the 3rd that although west coast ports have remained open in the past few days, they are close to full capacity. previously, analysts at jpmorgan chase set the potential cost of the strike to the u.s. economy at up to $5 billion per day.

everstream analytics, a california-based supply chain insights and risk analysis company, said that as of the 2nd, there were at least 45 container ships unable to unload anchored off east coast and gulf coast ports, compared with only three before the strike began.

in addition, panic buying of daily necessities has occurred in many supermarkets in the united states. cnn reported on the 2nd that the shelves containing toilet paper and paper towels in some supermarkets are now empty. although some analysts pointed out that the real impact of the strike was not the import of toilet paper, but the export of us-made toilet paper, cnn analyzed that the strike has awakened americans’ bad memories of toilet paper shortages or purchase restrictions during the covid-19 epidemic.

after news of the end of the strike came out, the georgia port authority said its facilities would reopen on the 4th. the port authority of new york and new jersey, the third busiest in the united states, said it would dispatch mechanics on the morning of the 4th local time to restore the port to operational status. the port of virginia stated on the evening of the 3rd that it would take 24 hours to fully resume operations.

people familiar with the matter said that the white house sent a number of senior government officials to intervene to promote an early agreement between labor and management. after several days of negotiations, white house chief of staff zients held an online meeting with senior executives of multinational shipping companies early in the morning on the 4th local time to increase pressure, emphasizing the necessity of opening ports for post-disaster reconstruction. white house national economic council director brainard, acting labor minister sue weisi urged the employer to increase its offer, saying he would use this to persuade the union.

for the u.s. economy and politics, the timing of the outbreak of this conflict of labor interests is very delicate. it is only about five weeks before the u.s. election. the economic impact of the strike may make biden, who claims to be "the most pro-labor in history," and the democratic party trapped.

the us politico news network mentioned that also on the 3rd, the international association of fire fighters (iaff) announced that it would not support harris in the presidential election. not long ago, another influential union, the international brotherhood of teamsters, also announced that it would not support any presidential candidate in this year's u.s. election. according to reports, this is a disappointing development for harris and her allies.

according to people familiar with the matter, the temporary agreement reached between the port labor and management parties will increase the wages of port workers by approximately 62% in the next six years. this range is still lower than the 77% previously requested by the ila, but higher than usmx’s previous 50% salary increase plan. however, reuters pointed out on the 3rd that a key issue leading to the strike, namely the application of port automation technology, has not yet been resolved, which may cause differences between the two sides in future negotiations. in addition, the new york times stated that unions have also been demanding increased retirement benefits for workers.

this article is an exclusive manuscript of observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.