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On October 1, 2024, thousands of dockworkers from the New England region of the United States to Texas went on strike. This marked the first work stoppage at ports along the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico since 1977.

According to a CBS report on October 1st local time, the strike occurred after labor negotiations between the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) reached an impasse. USMX represents major shipping companies (all foreign-owned), terminal operators, and port authorities. USMX stated that the strike was expected to involve 25,000 workers and lead to the closure of 14 ports, including Baltimore, Boston, Miami, and Houston. However, CNN reported that the strike could involve nearly 50,000 members of the ILA. Michael Pearce from Oxford Economics indicated that in the initial days of the strike, tens of thousands of workers serving the ports might face leave or reduced working hours, with the total number of affected workers estimated to be around 100,000, twice the number of those actually striking.

The ILA's main demand was a significant wage increase and a complete ban on the use of automated cranes, automated gates, and container trucks for loading and unloading cargo. According to ABC News, there was still a considerable gap between USMX's contract offer and ILA's demands.

Specifically, USMX stated that it had increased the pay raise over six years to 50% and promised to maintain restrictions on automation from the old contract. USMX also claimed that its proposal was three times the employer's retirement plan contributions and enhanced healthcare options. In a statement early on Tuesday, ILA said it rejected USMX's latest offer because it "falls far short of the demands of ILA's rank-and-file members on wages and preventing automation." Formal negotiations between the two sides have not taken place since June.

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What impact will the strike have on the economy? Reports suggest that the transportation and warehousing industries will feel the impact first, and if the strike continues, it is expected to affect a broader range of the economy. It is reported that if the strike persists, companies will be forced to pay demurrage fees to shippers and cause some goods to arrive late during the holiday shopping season. The most directly hit commodities include dozens of items such as bananas and European alcoholic beverages, as well as non-perishable products like automotive parts and furniture, and raw materials such as cotton and timber, all of which are imported through ports on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. It is reported that many goods cannot be rerouted because transporting these goods by air or other entry points is "neither economically nor logistically feasible."

Analysts at Oxford Economics said the strike could cost the U.S. economy between $4.5 billion and $7.5 billion per week, or cause a 0.1% loss to the U.S. annualized GDP. There are also reports suggesting that due to the strike causing interruptions in many of the United States' import and export trade, this could become the most disruptive strike in the United States in decades.

However, since the damage to the economy from the strike is closely related to its duration, some believe that a short strike will not cause too much damage to the economy. Jason Miller, a professor at Michigan State University, said that even for industries most dependent on imports, a two or three-day strike would not cause significant damage. For example, due to extreme weather events such as hurricanes, ports often have to close temporarily, and severe disruptions rarely follow.