DeSantis fears port strike could hinder Helene recovery in Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking in Madeira Beach on Oct. 2, 2024.

(Photo by Mitch Perry/ Florida Phoenix)While dockworkers in 14 major U.S. ports, including Port Tampa Bay, PortMiami, and Port Everglades, continued their strike on Wednesday for higher pay and job security, Gov. Ron DeSantis worries that an extended work stoppage could harm Hurricane Helene recovery efforts.

The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance were unable to reach a contract agreement on Monday, marking the union’s first strike since 1977, when dockworkers stopped work for several weeks.

Analysts say that if the strike lasts beyond a week, the supply chain for goods could be delayed coming into the United States, which DeSantis deems “unacceptable” at a time when thousands have been displaced by the storm and need to rebuild.

“The federal government should be doing all they can to make sure that all of the supplies continue to come in here unabated,” DeSantis said when asked Wednesday during a news conference in Pinellas County about possible obstacles to a quick recovery.

“So, now is not the time — you already have people who are reeling,” he said. “You have people who are on their backs. Let’s do everything we can to accelerate the relief. Make sure that they have the equipment. Make sure that they have the supplies that they need to be able to rehab their properties and rebuild their homes.”

He went on to declare that he would look to see “if there’s anything” in his power as governor to facilitate an end to the strike, before taking a verbal shot at President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I think that it would be a really, really bad look for the Biden-Harris administration to allow supplies to just be sitting in the Atlantic Ocean, just on ships that are just idling, when you have people — not just here in Pinellas County but up our entire Gulf Coast and Big Bend — who need it [recovery supplies],” he said.

He added that “it is something that would not be good if they allow this to happen, and I’ll do whatever I can to avert it.”

Inflation boost

Lauren Saidel-Baker, an economist at ITR Economics, a nonpartisan economic research and consulting firm in New Hampshire, told the States Newsroom that the longer the strike goes on, the greater the boost to inflation.

That could hurt Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, in the last weeks before the general election.

“This strike is about fairness,” Harris said in a statement Wednesday.

“Foreign-owned shipping companies have made record profits and executive compensation has grown. The Longshoremen, who play a vital role transporting essential goods across America, deserve a fair share of these record profits.”

The National Retail Federation coordinated a coalition of 272 trade associations on Wednesday, including manufacturers, farmers, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, and importers and exporters, to send a letter to President Biden pleading for him to end the strike.

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