Home Majority Chief Steve Scalise, R-La., slammed President Biden for failing to intervene within the dockworkers’ port strike, expressing concern over the influence it’s going to have on American households who’re already battling crippling inflation.Â
Scalise accused Biden of probably permitting the strike to “wreck” the U.S. economic system throughout “Fox & Pals,” arguing that customers will battle much more with rising prices because the Worldwide Longshoremen’s Affiliation’s (ILA) strike drags on.Â
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“The president mentioned we’re simply going to let it go on and wreck the economic system,” Scalise informed Lawrence Jones. “We’re dropping over $5 billion a day and prices are going to start out going up even greater on households who’re already struggling beneath the Biden-Harris inflation economic system. Meals on the cabinets goes to develop into extra scarce.”
Though Biden might invoke the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act to intervene within the strike, he has insisted in opposition to taking motion. Underneath that legislation, Biden might enact an 80-day “cooling off” interval for negotiations to renew whereas staff are again at work.
The ILA, which represents 45,000 dockworkers, started its first strike since 1977 after its six-year contract with the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents port employers, expired Monday night time.
TOPSHOT – Dockworkers collect on the Bayport Container Terminal in Seabrook, Texas, on October 1, 2024. Officers at 14 ports alongside the US East and Gulf Coasts had been making last-minute preparations on September 30 for a possible labor strike that might drag on the US economic system simply forward of a presidential election — regardless of last-minute talks. (Photograph by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photograph by MARK FELIX/AFP through Getty Photos)
The 36 ports impacted by the strike on the Gulf and East coasts deal with 55% of all U.S. container site visitors and huge volumes of exports, together with about half of U.S. pork and virtually three-quarters of U.S. poultry. About half of all imported vegatables and fruits come via these ports as nicely. In prescription drugs, 9 out of 10 imports and 7 out of 10 exports are being disrupted.
Negotiations between the ILA and USMX have been deadlocked to this point over the union’s calls for associated to wage hikes and compensation, in addition to safety from automation at ports.Â
Scalise argued that Congress wouldn’t help a ban on automation regardless of calls for from the ILA.Â
“Once we’re competing globally, we’re not simply competing one metropolis in opposition to one other,” he mentioned. “You’ve got acquired ports all all over the world which might be closely automated, and so they nonetheless have people, by the way in which, who truly run the units. These automated units aren’t operating themselves, however they’re already making with extra time over $200,000 a 12 months, in some circumstances, and so they need to shut the economic system all the way down to get extra.”
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“Who pays for this? And it will add much more to inflation,” he continued. “There are loads of households making 50,000 a 12 months which might be saying please cease including to the prices, and Biden and Harris will not do something as a result of they need to see these costs preserve going.”
In the meantime, the president has confronted fierce scrutiny for spending quite a few days on the seashore whereas the nation faces implications of the strike together with varied different crises – the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and surging violence within the Center East.Â
“We see Joe Biden on the seashore. He involves the White Home every time he needs to,” Jones mentioned. “Kamala Harris is on the marketing campaign path. The Cupboard members are simply on the Sunday reveals as allies of Kamala Harris. You are in management of our authorities, however who’s operating the nation proper now?”
“It is a actually scary thought,” Scalise responded. “If you have a look at a few of the payments we handed, we handed payments to safe the southern border. Joe Biden got here out, mentioned he is in opposition to it. Kamala Harris mentioned she’s in opposition to it. We have now payments to supply our personal American vitality, so we need not give Iran and Russia billions of {dollars} a month. President Biden and Kamala Harris oppose that, so… you see a transparent divide. The nation goes to talk actually loudly on this.”
“I feel JD Vance mentioned it greatest on the debate the opposite night time,” he continued. “Kamala Harris talks about what you do on the primary day. Kamala Harris’s first day was 1,400 days in the past, and have a look at the outcomes. The world’s on fireplace. Individuals cannot drive to go to the grocery retailer, not to mention put meals on the desk.”
FOX Enterprise’ Eric Revell and Fox Information’ E.J. Antoni contributed to this report.Â
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