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President Joe Biden and other government officials are urging port companies to offer stronger contracts to the 45,000 dockworkers on strike at East and Gulf Coast ports.
They're intervening because of the strike's huge economic stakes, which shut down 36 ports. It's slated to put a $5 billion dent in the economy per day, said analysts from JPMorgan.
The message from the Biden administration is clear: Companies need to offer a fair deal to the striking workers as soon as possible.
In a Tuesday post on X, Biden pushed for ocean carrier companies to offer "a strong and fair contract" that reflects workers' contribution to the economy since the pandemic and to these companies' record profits.
Biden added that his team is actively monitoring for price gouging by foreign ocean carriers.
"No company should exploit this for profit," said Biden.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also warned companies against profiteering from the strikes and called on them to remove any surcharges that may unfairly burden consumers or businesses, in a Tuesday statement.
"No one should exploit a disruption for profit, especially at a time when whole regions of the country are recovering from Hurricane Helene," Buttigieg said.
He also said the Federal Maritime Commission has been tasked with ensuring that all fees imposed during this period are "legitimate and lawful."
Buttigieg said in an Instagram post on Tuesday that he had been in contact with supply chain partners for months, and he urged all parties to "come to terms in good faith, fairly, and quickly."
Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su had also been in talks with dockworkers and port operators, encouraging the groups to return to the bargaining table and "reach a fair contract," she said in a Tuesday statement.
Su said that the port workers' sacrifices and importance during the pandemic and helping communities recover from Hurricane Helene were not fairly reflected in their salaries.
"As companies make record profits, their workers should share in that economic success," Su said in a Wednesday post on X.
Negotiations showed little movement until just before the strike began. The US Maritime Alliance, representing the ports, offered employees a 50% wage increase over six years.
Although the International Longshoremen's Association, representing thousands of dockworkers, briefly indicated a willingness to accept 61.5%, it has since reaffirmed its demand for a 77% raise over six years, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
Despite calls from retailers and manufacturers to use federal powers to intervene and stop the strike, Biden has so far resisted invoking the Taft-Hartley Act, which would allow the government to force an end to the strike.
In a Tuesday statement, Biden said he remains committed to collective bargaining and called on the USMX to negotiate a stronger contract for dockworkers.
The White House, Department of Labor, and Department of Transportation did not respond to requests for comment sent by Business Insider outside business hours.
