All eyes are on the negotiations between dockworkers on the East Coast and port operators as consumers and business owners worry about their bottom line.
“It’s definitely going to cause chaos the longer it goes on,” says Professor of Supply Chain Management Steven Carnovale of Florida Atlantic University.
Outside Port Miami Wednesday, longshoremen held up signs demanding higher wages and no automation.
“As this continues to go on and we enter the weeks increment of time, as that happens, then you will start to likely see either increased costs through transportation costs, potential shortages of products that come in,” Carnavale said.
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At ports on the East Coast, fresh produce is a major import. International lawyer Tiffany Comprés represents trade clients in the agribusiness space and says she’s received multiple calls and emails from concerned clients.
“They’re concerned that the product is going to rot or that the product at a minimum even if the strike is just a day or two will decline in quality,” Comprés said.
Many businesses are now looking into re-routing their shipments through ports on the West Coast.
“It’ll just increase the amount of time it takes to arrive where it needs to,” Carnavale said.
NBC6 viewers sent in photos from stores in Broward County showing empty shelves and a shortage of some items, but experts say right now many people are panic buying.
"The first couple of days I think it's the equivalent of scraping your knee. Little hiccup shouldn't be too bad. As we start to hit week one, week two that's when things certainly could get increasingly more problematic," said Carnavale. "If you go beyond that, very likely shortages will pop up, but then you got to remember we can still re-route freight, it just extends the amount of time it takes from when it lands to when it arrives at the stores."
On Tuesday, the union representing the dockworkers rejected a 50% pay raise. Dockworkers are asking for 77%. Currently, their average base salary is about $81,000 per year.
