The governor of Florida, Rick Scott, said on Thursday that a strike at the ports of the U.S. east coast would be devastating to the state's economy and called on the parties and the White House to do everything possible to avoid it.
"More than a billion dollars a day would no longer enter into the economy to support families in Florida," Scott argued today during a meeting with heads of state ports, some of them among the largest in the country.
Scott made the call two days before the deadline they have to negotiate a new agreement longshoremen's union, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents shipping lines and ports.
Negotiations broke down last week because of a dispute over container fees, an amount that can supplement the salaries of unionized employees.
According to USMX, last year paid $ 211 million for that concept, which means an average of $ 15,500 in addition to salary for each union member.
The current agreement expires on December 29, "date is just around the corner," said Scott, who insisted that "the livelihood of thousands of families in Florida depends on the work in ports and shall be suspended unless reached an agreement on Saturday. "
"If a strike or lockout, the largest ports in Florida could close, thus affecting jobs statewide, including truck drivers, manufacturing workers and storage, and many other positions that go beyond the ports, "he argued.
In his opinion, "the port lockout is simply not an option for families of Florida" because these infrastructures, which has invested $ 421 million in the last three years, "are a vital part of our labor market ".
Much of Florida ports provide logistical support for trade with Latin America and the Caribbean, and in recent years have been preparing to meet the expansion of the Panama Canal and a potential increase in trade with Asia.
Scott explained that sent a letter to Barack Obama asking him to invoke the Taft Hartley Act, which limits the power of trade unions, as did George W. Bush in 2002 to stop a similar strike on the West Coast and avoid interrupting the supply chain across the country, which would have cost a billion dollars a day, as calculated then.
"The leaders of the ports of Florida believe that this strike would be worse than 2002," said Scott about an industry in this state generates 550,000 jobs directly and indirectly and about 66,000 million.
The largest port in Florida is Miami, which brings about 18,000 million dollars annually to the state economy. After today's meeting, the director and president of the Florida Ports Council, Bill Johnson, said he was hopeful the two sides reach an agreement.
"In a strike there are no winners. A disruption in the flow of goods in our ports would have a negative effect on the national economy," he argued in a statement.
Steve Cernak, director of one of the largest ports in the state, the Everglades (with 150,000 jobs and 13,500 million), emphasized the need for "federal intervention to prevent the strike and keep workers in their jobs."
Besides its importance in the transport of goods, in Florida are the three busiest cruise ports in the world, Miami, Everglades and Canaveral.
"We expect a quick solution to the negotiations and that the Port Canaveral has increased load handling and the possibility exists that the cruise industry is affected," said Stan Payne for his part, director of the latter.
Occur, would be the first strike on the East Coast since 1977 and would affect the U.S. market supply of all kinds of goods. Therefore, more than one hundred business groups have also called for the intervention of Obama.
