The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the US Maritime Alliance have reached a tentative labor agreement, ending the US dockworkers strike after three days. US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sits down with Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi to discuss the implication.
Buttigieg explains that due to the strike's brief duration, most consumers won't notice significant effects. However, he acknowledges that resolving the backlog created at ports will "take more than one day's work."
"Because it was a relatively short strike, we believe the economic impact will be manageable for the country. Meanwhile, of course, there's a big economic impact for the workers," he tells Yahoo Finance, expressing satisfaction about the "much-deserved raises" in the new tentative deal.
Addressing wage disparities, Buttigieg notes that over a 10-year period, shipping companies' profits increased by 350%, while average national wages in the United States rose 42%. In contrast, dockworker wages only increased by 15%. "I think this is one more investment in keeping those supply chains moving," he explains.
Buttigieg emphasizes that these benefits have been "a long time coming," citing "a decades-long stretch of widening inequality" between corporations and their workers. "The reality is we are seeing enormous growth, enormous profits, and big wage gains for workers. Those things should travel together, and that's what we're seeing right now," he states.
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This post was written by Angel Smith