Cassidy Decries President's Inaction on Looming Port Strike
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the top Republican on the Senate committee that covers labor, criticized the Biden-Harris administration for not intervening to prevent a strike of union dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports. The Longshoremen's contract ends Sept. 30.
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Cassidy argues the admnistration should have asked a court to issue an injunction to require that negotiations continue for up to 80 days. "Your administration seems more interested in cementing its ‘pro-union’ legacy rather than being pro-worker. This callous attitude is insensitive to hard-working Americans who will bear the brunt of this unnecessary hardship," Cassidy said in a news release. He said that a one-day strike would temporarily strand $5 billion worth of goods, and it would take five days to clear the backlog. He said a weeklong strike would take a month to clear. Citing a blog post from National Retail Federation's Jon Gold, he said port management and the union haven't met since June.