Most Americans might not realize it, but the country just avoided a massive crisis last week, with the relatively quick and painless end to the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) strike, thanks in large part to Gov. Ron DeSantis. Had the strike continued, American consumers would have seen shortages everywhere, and the economy would have been ruined.
The reasons for the strike were nothing unusual. The ILA was in talks with its employer, the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), for a new six-year contract. And even though the USMX extended an “offer of a nearly 50% wage increase” to its employees, this was not enough, and the ILA staged a strike in order to win an even bigger increase and guaranteed protections against automation.
Because the ILA had so much leverage in the negotiation, the Biden administration and the USMX were stuck with a few options, none of them good. They could stay out of the talks and simply try to encourage the USMX to meet the extravagant demands of the strikers, which Biden’s spokespeople tried, but with little success.
Or the Biden administration could have invoked the Taft-Hartley Act to temporarily halt the strike and force both parties back to negotiations. Nevertheless, Biden dismissed this idea, knowing that the optics of forcing union workers back to the docks would upset an important part of his coalition.
Or the Biden administration could actively force the USMX to cave to the demands. Considering the high salaries that the longshoremen already enjoyed and
