It’s looking increasingly likely that dock workers on the East Coast will launch a massive strike Tuesday, shuttering 36 ports along the East and Gulf Coasts. If that happens, Americans could experience supply chain disruptions through election day and well into the holiday season.
About three quarters of banana imports to the U.S. arrive at ports that would be affected by a strike, according to the chairman of Michigan State University’s department of supply chain management. Coffee and cocoa imports would also be affected, as would pharmaceutical imports — a third of which are routed through the port in Charleston, South Carolina.
Contract negotiations between port ownership and the International Longshoremen’s Association, which represents more than 85,000 dock workers, broke down over the summer, and the two sides remain in a stalemate over both wages and automating port…
