Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas go on strike, a standoff risking new shortages

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas began walking picket lines early Tuesday in a strike over wages and automation that could reignite inflation and cause shortages of goods if it goes on more than a few weeks.

The contract between the ports and about 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association expired at midnight, and even though progress was reported in talks on Monday, the workers went on strike. The strike affecting 36 ports is the first by the union since 1977.

Workers began picketing at the Port of Philadelphia shortly after midnight, walking in a circle at a rail crossing outside the port and chanting “No work without a fair contract.”

The union had message boards on the side of a truck reading: “Automation Hurts Families: ILA Stands For Job Protection.”

Local ILA president Boise Butler said workers want a fair contract that doesn’t allow automation of their jobs.

Shipping companies made billions during the pandemic by charging high prices, he said. “Now we want them to pay back. They’re going to pay back,” Butler said.

He said the union will strike for as long as it needs to get a fair deal, and it has leverage over the companies.

“This is not something that you start and you stop,” he said. “We're not weak,” he added, pointing to the union's importance to the nation's economy

At Port Houston, at least 50 workers started picketing around midnight local time carrying signs saying “No Work Without a Fair Contract."

The U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents the ports, said Monday evening that both sides had moved off of their previous wage offers. But no deal was reached.

The union’s opening offer in the talks was for a 77% pay raise over the six-year life of the contract, with President Harold Daggett saying it’s necessary to make up for inflation and years of small raises. ILA members make a base salary of about $81,000 per year, but some can pull in over $200,000 annually with large amounts of overtime.

But Monday evening, the alliance said it had increased its offer to 50% raises over six years, and it pledged to keep limits on automation in place from the old contract. The union wants a complete ban on automation. It wasn’t clear just how far apart both sides are.

“We are hopeful that this could allow us to fully resume collective bargaining around the other outstanding issues in an effort to reach an agreement,” the alliance statement said.

In a statement early Tuesday, the union said it rejected the alliance's latest proposal because it “fell far short of what ILA rank-and-file members are demanding in wages and protections against automation.” The two sides had not held formal negotiations since June.

“We are prepared to fight as long as necessary, to stay out on strike for whatever period of time it takes, to get the wages and protections against automation our ILA members deserve,” Daggett said in the statement. “They must now meet our demands for this strike to end.”

The alliance said its offer tripled employer contributions to retirement plans and strengthened health care options.

Supply chain experts say consumers won’t see an immediate impact from the strike because most retailers stocked up on goods, moving ahead shipments of holiday gift items.

But if it goes more than a few weeks, a work stoppage would significantly snarl the nation’s supply chain, potentially leading to higher prices and delays in goods reaching households and businesses.

If drawn out, the strike will force businesses to pay shippers for delays and cause some goods to arrive late for peak holiday shopping season — potentially impacting delivery of anything from toys or artificial Christmas trees to cars, coffee and fruit.

The strike will likely have an almost immediate impact on supplies of perishable imports like bananas, for example. The ports affected by the strike handle 3.8 million metric tons of bananas each year, or 75% of the nation’s supply, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

It also could snarl exports from East Coast ports and create traffic jams at ports on the West Coast, where workers are represented by a different union. Railroads say they can ramp up to carry more freight from the West Coast, but analysts say they can’t move enough to make up for the closed Eastern ports.

“If the strikes go ahead, they will cause enormous delays across the supply chain, a ripple effect which will no doubt roll into 2025 and cause chaos across the industry,” noted Jay Dhokia, founder of supply chain management and logistics firm Pro3PL.

J.P. Morgan estimated that a strike that shuts down East and Gulf coast ports could cost the economy $3.8 billion to $4.5 billion per day, with some of that recovered over time after normal operations resume.

The strike comes just weeks before the presidential election and could become a factor if there are shortages. Retailers, auto parts suppliers and produce importers had hoped for a settlement or that President Joe Biden would intervene and end the strike using the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows him to seek an 80-day cooling off period.

But during an exchange with reporters on Sunday, Biden, who has worked to court union votes for Democrats, said “no” when asked if he planned to intervene in the potential work stoppage.

A White House official said Monday that at Biden’s direction, the administration has been in regular communication with the ILA and the alliance to keep the negotiations moving forward. The president directed Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard to convene the alliance’s board members Monday afternoon and urge them to resolve the dispute fairly and quickly — in a way that accounts for the success of shipping companies in recent years and contributions of union workers.

Krisher in reported from Detroit. Associated Press journalists Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, Mae Anderson and Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York, Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit, Josh Boak in Washington, and Annie Mulligan in Houston contributed to this report.

Longshoremen strike at midnight at Bayport Terminal on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Third generation longshoreman Ray Bailey Jr. trustee of ILA Local 1291 encourages picketers outside the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal Port, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024.(AP Photo/Ryan Collerd)

Striking Philadelphia longshoreman picket outside the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal Port, Tuesday, Oct. 01, 2024.(AP Photo/Ryan Collerd)

Dockworker Meikysha Wright and others strike outside the Virginia International Gateway in Portsmouth, Va., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

Hundreds of longshoremen strike together outside of the Virginia International Gateway in Portsmouth, Va., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

Longshoremen strike at midnight at Bayport Terminal on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Longshoremen strike at midnight at Bayport Terminal on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Hundreds of longshoremen strike together outside of the Virginia International Gateway in Portsmouth, Va., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

Longshoremen Meikysha Wright and others strike together outside of the Virginia International Gateway in Portsmouth, Va., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

Longshoremen strike at midnight at Bayport Terminal on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Hundreds of longshoremen strike together outside of the Virginia International Gateway in Portsmouth, Va., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

Boise Butler, president of ILA Local 1291, speaks to the press outside the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal Port in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ryan Collerd)

Philadelphia longshoremen hang the flag of the International Longshoremen's Association on a fence outside the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal Port, preparing to strike, as their contract runs out at midnight, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ryan Collerd)

Boise Butler, president of ILA Local 1291, speaks to the press outside the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal Port in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ryan Collerd)

Philadelphia longshoremen assembled outside the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal Port begin to strike as their contract runs out at midnight, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ryan Collerd)

Philadelphia longshoremen assembled outside the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal Port begin to strike as their contract runs out at midnight, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ryan Collerd)

Boise Butler, president of Local 1291, chants along with his fellow longshoremen outside the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal Port in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ryan Collerd)

Boise Butler, president of ILA Local 1291, speaks to the press outside the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal Port in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ryan Collerd)

The International Longshoremen’s Association flag and an American flag fly together outside the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal Port as workers prepare to strike as their contract runs out at midnight, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Ryan Collerd)

Boise Butler, president of Local 1291, with an American flag on his wheelchair, pickets with his fellow longshoremen outside the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal Port in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ryan Collerd)

Striking Philadelphia longshoremen picket outside the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal Port, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ryan Collerd)

FILE - Containers are moved at the Port of New York and New Jersey in Elizabeth, N.J., on June 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

FILE - In this photo provided by the Georgia Ports Authority, Griff Lynch, President and CEO of the Georgia Ports Authority, provides an update on the Port of Savannah's progress and future trajectory to 1,200 leaders from the maritime, supply chain, business and political sectors Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, during the annual State of the Port event in Savannah, Ga. (Stephen B. Morton/Georgia Ports Authority via AP, File)

FILE - Shipping containers are stacked in the Port of New York and New Jersey in Elizabeth, N.J., May 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian official claimed Tuesday that Iranian-German prisoner Jamshid Sharmahd died before Tehran could execute him — directly contradicting the country's earlier announcement he had been put to death.

The comment by Asghar Jahangir comes after Germany shut down all three Iranian consulates in the country over Sharmahd's death, leaving only the embassy in Berlin open. Germany later disputed Jahangir's remark.

Meanwhile, even Iran's reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has offered his own criticism of Germany's response to Sharmahd's death as tensions remain high between Tehran and the West over its rapidly advancing nuclear program and the ongoing Mideast wars.

The judiciary’s Mizan news agency quoted Jahangir as saying: “Jamshid Sharmahd was sentenced to death, his sentence was ready to be carried out, but he passed away before implementation of the sentence.”

He did not elaborate. Jahangir's remarks were made to the state-affiliated Quds newspaper after a weekly news conference, when journalists typically buttonhole the spokesman into answering questions he didn't take from the podium.

Germany's Foreign Ministry, reacting to the official's comment, said: “His death was confirmed to us by the Iranian side.”

“Jamshid Sharmahd was abducted by Iran and held for years without a fair trial, in inhumane conditions and without the necessary medical care," the ministry said. “Iran is responsible for his death."

Germany added it was "lobbying the Iranian government to hand over his body to his family.”

The State Department in the U.S., where Sharmahd once lived, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jason Poblete, a lawyer representing Sharmahd's family, told The Associated Press that the conflicting comments from Iran were “deeply concerning.”

“This inconsistency raises serious questions about the circumstances of the death and the transparency of the Iranian system,” Poblete said. “The family has been urging the German and U.S. authorities to investigate this matter to ascertain the truth, ensure accountability thoroughly and reunite Jimmy with his family in California.”

Iran had said it executed Sharmahd on Oct. 28. He was 69.

Iran accused Sharmahd, who lived in Glendora, California, of planning a 2008 attack on a mosque that killed 14 people — including five women and a child — and wounded over 200 others, as well as plotting other assaults through the little-known Kingdom Assembly of Iran and its Tondar militant wing.

Iran also accused Sharmahd of “disclosing classified information” on missile sites of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard during a television program in 2017.

His family disputed the allegations and had worked for years to see him freed. Germany, the U.S. and international rights groups have dismissed Sharmahd's trial as a sham. Amnesty International said the proceedings against Sharmahd had been a “grossly unfair trial” because he had been denied access to an independent lawyer and “the right to defend himself.”

However, Amnesty also noted that Sharmahd ran a website for the Kingdom Assembly of Iran and its Tondar militant wing that included claims of “responsibility for explosions inside Iran,” though he repeatedly denied being involved in the attacks.

Sharmahd was apparently kidnapped while on a layover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2020. His family received their last message from him on July 28, 2020.

It’s unclear how the abduction happened, but tracking data showed that Sharmahd’s cellphone traveled south from Dubai to the city of Al Ain on July 29, crossing the border into Oman. On July 30, tracking data showed the phone traveled to the Omani port city of Sohar, where the signal stopped.

Two days later, Iran announced it had captured Sharmahd in a “complex operation.” The Intelligence Ministry published a photograph of him blindfolded.

In the time since his execution, Germany shut the consulates. It's a diplomatic tool Germany seldom uses and signals a major downgrade in relations with Tehran.

However, Iran has responded by criticizing Germany and the West, including Pezeshkian, who campaigned on a promise of getting sanctions on the Islamic Republic lifted.

“When someone, who has slaughtered dozens, is executed, they say you do not observe human rights,” Pezeshkian said.

Associated Press writer Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.

FILE - Iranian-German national and U.S. resident Jamshid Sharmahd attends his trial at the Revolutionary Court, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. (Koosha Mahshid Falahi/Mizan News Agency via AP, File