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    Harold Daggett, Port Strike Leader, Seeks Big Raises for Dockworkers

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    Harold J. Daggett is seeking big raises for longshoremen on the East and Gulf Coasts who have fallen behind workers on the West Coast.Nearly two decades ago, Harold J. Daggett was accused of being part of the mob’s efforts to control a powerful union, the International Longshoremen’s Association.He was a midlevel official of the union. After a high-profile trial, a jury acquitted him of fraud and extortion conspiracy, and he joined reveling supporters outside the Brooklyn federal courthouse. Motioning toward the building, he asked onlookers, “What doorway do I have to go through to get my reputation back?”Now, after 13 years as the union’s president, Mr. Daggett is seeking a different type of victory.He is leading a strike that began on Tuesday, shutting down most trade at a dozen big ports on the East and Gulf Coasts. The union, whose members move containers and other cargo on and off ships, is demanding much higher wages, improved benefits and limits on labor-saving technology.Mr. Daggett has cast the strike as a battle against large multinational corporations that earned outsize profits during the pandemic-related supply chain chaos. He has asserted that his 47,000 members have the upper hand because their work is essential to the automakers, retailers and other businesses that depend on the ports.“We’re going to win this thing,” Mr. Daggett, 78, said on Tuesday, along with an expletive, as members picketed outside a port terminal in New Jersey. “They can’t survive too long.”Some labor experts say Mr. Daggett is well positioned to get a good deal. “If they stop working, the goods stop moving,” said William Brucher, an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations. “They have real economic power and leverage.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Trump and Harris Want to Revive Manufacturing, but How Much Could They Actually Do?

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    The policy focus on the industry has changed from job quantity to job quality. And while federal incentives matter, local factors are more important.In recent weeks, the presidential candidates have been tussling over a familiar campaign issue in postindustrial America: how to reinvigorate manufacturing.Former President Donald J. Trump has proposed stiff tariffs on nearly all imports as a way of forcing foreign companies to make their goods in the United States, an escalation of a strategy that did not work during his term. “We’re going to take their factories,” Mr. Trump declared recently.Building on the Biden administration’s approach, Vice President Kamala Harris has promised tax credits and more apprenticeships to strengthen factory towns and invest in advanced technologies, ensuring they “are not just invented in America but built here.”In truth, no president can single-handedly control the growth of specific industries. Larger economic forces like recessions and exchange rates tend to play a much more powerful role. But some policies can help or hinder their progress.Over the last four years, policy and macroeconomic factors have combined to begin reshaping the manufacturing industry. While job growth has been flat for the past two years — as interest rates have clamped down on expansion and a strong dollar has dulled exports — shifts in the composition and location of it are underway beneath the surface.But first, a more fundamental question: Why do politicians care so much about manufacturing, anyway?Which manufacturing sectors have been growing fastest?Domestic output of semiconductors and other electrical components has expanded by 30 percent since the beginning of 2020. Other products, not as much.

    Notes: The semiconductor category includes other components. Source: Federal ReserveBy The New York TimesWhere manufacturing jobs have shifted since the pandemicBetween January 2020 and March 2024, the West Coast and Northeast have lost factory employment while many states in the Southeast have gained.

    Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Labor DepartmentBy The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Biden Scrambles to Contain Economic and Political Fallout of Port Strike

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    The labor dispute has forced President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris into a complicated position just weeks before the election.President Biden urged the alliance representing port employers to present a fair offer to striking longshoremen on Tuesday as the White House scrambled to contain the economic and political fallout of the work stoppage at U.S. ports.“Collective bargaining is the best way for workers to get the pay and benefits they deserve,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “Executive compensation has grown in line with those profits, and profits have been returned to shareholders at record rates. It’s only fair that workers, who put themselves at risk during the pandemic to keep ports open, see a meaningful increase in their wages as well.”The labor dispute between the roughly 45,000 workers and the port operators has forced Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris into a complicated position. A prolonged strike could send chills across the U.S. economy, creating shortages, layoffs and even higher prices for consumers just weeks before the presidential election.The strike began after a monthslong impasse between the longshoremen and the port operators. The workers had pushed for wage increases that exceeded what the group representing the operators had offered. The union is also fighting automation at its ports.Mr. Biden has said he would not use a federal labor law to force the workers back to work, despite pressure from Republicans to contain the potential economic pain.Invoking the almost 80-year-old law, known as the Taft-Hartley Act, could alienate unions and diminish crucial support among labor groups in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan just before the presidential election.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Port Strike Begins on East and Gulf Coasts

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    Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association walked out for the first time since 1977 in a standoff over wages, benefits and job security.For the first time in nearly 50 years, longshoremen on the East and Gulf Coasts went on strike Tuesday, a move that will cut off most trade through some of the busiest U.S. ports and could send a chill through the economy.Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association union, which represents roughly 45,000 workers, started setting up pickets after 11th-hour talks failed to avert a work stoppage.“Nothing’s going to move without us — nothing,” said Harold J. Daggett, the president of the union, addressing picketers outside a port terminal in Elizabeth, N.J., in a video posted early Tuesday to a union Facebook account.The United States Maritime Alliance, which represents port employers, declined to comment early Tuesday. The two sides were not able to agree on wage increases, and the use of new technology in the ports was a sticking point for the union.“We think they’re lowballing intentionally,” Leonard Riley, a longshoreman at the Port of Charleston in South Carolina, said on Tuesday. “We are going to be out until we have something to chew on.”Businesses now face a period of uncertainty. Trade experts say that a short strike would cause little lasting damage but that a weekslong stoppage could lead to shortages, higher prices and even layoffs.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    A New Fine-Dining Restaurant in London, Staffed by Ex-Homeless People

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    In London’s upmarket Primrose Hill, a Michelin-starred chef is employing people on the edge of homelessness as chefs, wait staff and cocktail makers.It’s been three weeks since the restaurant, Home Kitchen, opened its doors and Mimi Mohamed is pretty sure she knows the lemon tart recipe by heart. But just in case, a small notebook where she has carefully written out the ingredients is propped up at the back of the steel counter: 18 lemons; 420 grams of butter; 900 grams of sugar; 24 eggs.The recipe is from Adam Simmonds, a celebrated Michelin star-winning chef. Novices like Ms. Mohamed are not usually found in his kitchens, but this new, upscale dining venture is not usual. Almost every member of the 19-person team has been homeless.“The crew downstairs in the kitchen, they make so many mistakes, but that’s OK,” Mr. Simmonds said with a laugh. “We accept that and we learn from it.”He is sitting upstairs in the front dining room. A large window overlooks the main commercial street in Primrose Hill, a neighborhood in north London that oozes British charm.The idea was hatched four years ago by Alex Brown, director of Soup Kitchen London, where Mr. Simmonds took a turn cooking at the start of the pandemic. The most common question from those who lined up for food was “Do you know of any jobs?”Home Kitchen is aimed at breaking the cycle of homelessness and joblessness by training people for a career in the restaurant industry.Andrew Testa for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • 138 Shares139 Views

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    How the Port Strike Could Affect the Economy and Certain Products

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    Transportation and warehousing sectors are poised to first feel the pinch, with a broader economic fallout expected if the strike drags on.As dockworkers at East and Gulf Coast ports walk off the job, economists are bracing for the strike to reverberate across the American economy.The strike, a result of a monthslong impasse between the union representing roughly 45,000 longshoremen and port operators, began at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday. It will halt almost all activity at some of the busiest ports in the United States, from Maine to Texas. The International Longshoremen’s Association is pushing for wage increases that exceed those offered by the United States Maritime Alliance, the port operators group.The president of the International Longshoremen’s Association said the workers were “making history” by walking off the job for the first time in nearly 50 years.Bryan Anselm for The New York TimesPresident Biden said on Sunday that he was not planning to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, a nearly 80-year-old law, to force dockworkers back to work if they strike.A strike could cost the economy $4.5 billion to $7.5 billion, or a 0.1 percent hit to U.S. annualized gross domestic product, every week as truckers and other workers dependent on the ports are furloughed and manufacturers experience delivery delays, according to analysts at Oxford Economics. While those losses would be reversed once the strike was over, it would take a month to clear the backlog for each week of the strike, the analysts estimated.Here’s what else to know about the potential economic fallout of the strike.A strike could cost the economy $4.5 billion to $7.5 billion for every week of the work stoppage.Erin Schaff/The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Powell Points to Two More Normal-Size Rate Cuts This Year

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    Jerome H. Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, said that central bankers will lower rates as much as needed, but have forecast two more quarter-point rate cuts this year.Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, underscored on Monday that officials are likely to lower interest rates in the coming months — but that policymakers do not expect to make those rate cuts in large increments if the economy shapes up as expected.Fed officials lowered interest rates by half a percentage point, or 50 basis points, at their meeting on Sept. 18, the first reduction in more than four years. Policymakers usually cut borrowing costs in quarter-point increments, so that was an unusually large decrease.The move came as the Fed made notable progress in its fight against rapid inflation. Price increases have slowed substantially since their 2022 peak, which meant that the high interest rates the Fed had maintained since mid-2023 were no longer seen as necessary.Now, the question is how quickly central bankers will ease off in the months ahead. Speaking to business economists at a conference in Nashville on Monday, Mr. Powell pointed to economic projections that Fed officials released following their recent meeting. Those showed that policymakers thought they would lower rates by another half percentage point by the end of 2024.“That would mean two more cuts, it wouldn’t mean more 50s,” Mr. Powell said, referring to 50-basis-point cuts. “Of course, that will depend on the data. But ultimately, that’s what the baseline is.”The Fed is facing two big risks as it approaches its upcoming policy decisions in November and December.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Port Strike on the East and Gulf Coasts: What to Know

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    Thousands of dockworkers who load and unload cargo ships could walk off the job on Tuesday, halting nearly all activity at ports from Maine to Texas.Thousands of unionized dockworkers on the East and Gulf Coasts could go on strike as early as Tuesday, stranding cargo and sending ripples through supply chains for consumer goods and manufacturing parts.A contract between the operators of port terminals and the International Longshoremen’s Association, covering workers who load and unload cargo ships at three dozen ports, is set to expire on Monday. Their facilities include massive container ports in New Jersey, Virginia, Georgia and Texas, as well as the Port of Baltimore, a major hub for the import and export of vehicles and heavy machinery.The port operators group, the United States Maritime Alliance, and the union remain at an impasse over wage increases. Federal officials have said President Biden is not planning to invoke a nearly 80-year-old law to force dockworkers back to work if they strike. It would be the first such walkout at all these ports since 1977.Which ports and goods would be affected?Workers at ports from Maine to Texas would walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. These ports handle about half of all goods shipped to the United States in containers. One of them, the Port of New York and New Jersey, is the third busiest in the country.Longshoremen play a crucial role in the movement of cargo. They are responsible for loading and unloading ships, and they secure vessels that arrive and depart from U.S. ports. For the most part, ocean transport to and from these ports can’t happen without them.Cargo that could be affected by the strike includes everyday consumer goods, like bananas, many of which come through a port in Delaware. Just over half of imported apparel, footwear and accessories also come through East Coast ports. Manufacturing parts and cars move through these ports, too.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More