Yahoo Finance Port Strike Latest: Vilsack Says Talks Will Bring Bananas Ashore
(Bloomberg) -- US container ports from Houston to Miami and up to Boston are closed for a third day after the labor contract between dockworkers and the terminal operators and shipping lines that employ them expired Tuesday.
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In the meantime, dozens of ships carrying containers full of factory and pharmaceutical components, consumer goods and autos have anchored off the coast of major trade hubs including New York, South Carolina and Virgina.
For more stories on the ports strike, click here.
Here’s the latest (all times are NY):
Vilsack Says Bargaining Will Bring Home the Bananas (4:45 p.m.)
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he doesn’t think the port strike will impact food prices — as long as it is short.
“The hope would be that this thing ends tomorrow, alright. That would be short,” he told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday afternoon. Vilsack said even a strike lasting a couple weeks wouldn’t create a significant disruption, but “if you get into months, then obviously that’s a different situation.”
That’s why the White House has been pushing the two sides to restart negotiations, he said. “That’s the most effective way of getting the bananas to wherever they need to go. And hopefully, the shippers will come to the table, the union will come to the table, collective bargaining will work.” — Akayla Gardner
Spooked Shoppers Load Up on Toilet Paper during Strike (2:33 p.m)
Some US shoppers are stocking up on toilet paper amid fears of potential disruption from the port strike and increased demand in areas affected by Hurricane Helene.
Charmin toilet paper is out of stock for delivery from many Costco stores around the country, according to the retailer’s website. Other brands, as well as paper towels, were also sold out in some locations.
Costco Wholesale Corp. Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip said the company has experienced higher demand for everyday items in the last few days, especially paper products. Costco doesn’t expect any supply challenges in staples due to the strike and is working to replenish products that are selling fast, he added. - Jaewon Kang and Leslie Patton
‘The Fruit is Detained By the Strike’ (1 p.m.)
In a typical week, Peter Kopke imports hundreds of containers filled with clementines, grapefruits, navel oranges and lemons on huge vessels that arrive in the US weekly from South America and South Africa.
The citrus gets unloaded at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal at the Port of Philadelphia and trucked to a warehouse, where hourly workers pack the fruit into 3- or 5-pound bags. Then it’s trucked to Costco, Target and Walmart stores across the country.
But about $10 million worth of fruit for the company William H. Kopke Jr. Inc. is sitting in vessels offshore or in limbo along the journey, waiting for a deal to end to the first dockworker strike in almost 50 years at maritime gateways from Boston to Houston.
Read the full story in today’s Businessweek Daily Newsletter
“The fruit is detained by the strike,” Kopke says. Depending on how long it lasts, he faces extra fees to keep the refrigerated containers plugged in on ships. Even if the fruit doesn’t spoil, he’s out the hundreds of thousands already spent to get it here—making his business one among many threatened with major losses. - Laura Curtis
--With assistance from Akayla Gardner, Jaewon Kang and Leslie Patton.
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