Michael Dekker
Tulsa World Business Writer
A dockworkers’ strike on the East and Gulf coasts is unlikely to affect shipping at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa for several reasons, a port official said.
“The barges (traversing) here don’t have consumer goods — they carry bulk goods” such as steel, grain, fertilizer and large machinery, said Andrew Ralston, director of economic development for Tulsa Ports, which includes the Port of Catoosa and the Port of Inola.
The 45,000-member International Longshoremen’s Association is demanding significantly higher wages and a total ban on the automation of cranes, gates and container-moving trucks that are used in the loading or unloading of freight at 36 U.S. ports. Those ports handle roughly half of the nation’s cargo from ships.
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A lengthy shutdown could raise prices on goods around the country and potentially cause shortages and price increases at big and small retailers alike as the holiday shopping season approaches, the Associated Press reported.
There are no members of that union working at Tulsa Ports, Ralston said.
Also, he said, the strike is affecting ships with goods that will go east of the Mississippi River, not west.
“Now if this was happening in Los Angeles, ... it might be a different story, but this really should not affect anything here,” Ralston said.
He also said many barges traversing at the Port of Catoosa are carrying domestically produced bulk commodities.
“Sometimes, it’s good to be in the middle of the country,” he said.
“We get a lot of our steel for fabrication domestically, so, international shipping at the coast is not a problem for those manufacturing industries that rely on steel,” Ralston said.
“That type of business will still be moving forward here because the steel is coming mainly from Arkansas and Pennsylvania.”
The ports affected by the shutdown include Baltimore and Brunswick, Georgia, the top two busiest auto ports; Philadelphia, which gives priority to fruits and vegetables; and New Orleans, which handles coffee, mainly from South America and Southeast Asia, various chemicals from Mexico and North Europe, and wood products such as plywood from Asia and South America.
Other major ports affected include Boston; New York/New Jersey; Norfolk, Virginia; Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Tampa, Florida; Mobile, Alabama; and Houston.
The strike could last weeks — or months. If the strike is resolved within a few weeks, consumers probably wouldn’t notice any major shortages of retail goods, the AP reported.
But a strike that persists for more than a month would likely cause a shortage of some consumer products, although most holiday retail goods have already arrived from overseas. Shoppers could see higher prices on a vast array of goods, from fruit and vegetables to cars.
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