At the stroke of midnight on October 1, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) began its strike, effectively shutting down the ports from Maine to Texas. This followed a disappointing negotiation process with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), the group representing the ports, as both sides were unable to agree on a new master contract. For months, the ILA and USMX exchanged statements back-and-forth accusing each other of refusing to negotiate in good faith and declining to meaningfully revise their respective offers. This remains unchanged even as we sit three days into a strike, with the American people and small businesses about to start feeling the pain.

The supply chain has seemingly been in ‘crisis mode’ since early 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Since then, we have experienced a series of significant disruptions: multiple rail strikes (including one this past summer and another narrowly avoided two years ago), labor disputes at West Coast ports, a drought in the Panama Canal limiting movement of containers, the ongoing turmoil in the Red Sea due to the Houthis, and the list goes on.