WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Biden will not intervene to stop a potential dockworkers strike.
While speaking to reporters in Delaware, Biden says he doesn’t believe in the Taft-Hartley Act, a law that would allow him to delay a strike with a court order. Thousands of longshoremen are set to strike this week amid stalled labor contract talks with the U.S. Maritime Alliance.
A strike would likely disrupt commercial trade on a massive scale and seriously impact the U.S. economy with just over a month remaining until the presidential election.
The workers are asking for a significant pay increase, and a guarantee that several jobs would not be automated going into the future. This includes crane and gate operators and truck drivers for containers entering and leaving docks.