SAN ANTONIO – The ongoing port strike at the East and Gulf coast ports is a situation closely monitored by many companies and grocery stores, even though they are not overly concerned at this time.
River City Produce, a distributing company located on Laredo Street, serves both businesses and residents in need of produce.
“My first thought was it is going to be tougher,” said Nando Gonzalez with River City Produce. “We will get through it, but it will be tougher. We just have to use alternate sources.”
He said they have a lot of produce grown and shipped within the United States, but for items like bananas, adjustments may be needed depending on how long the strike lasts.
“Eighty-five percent of bananas in the U.S. imports come through vessel,” Gonzalez said. “There is a lot that comes through Mexico, so they are going to be around. But depending on how long it stays, we are dealing with a perishable commodity, so we have limited shelf life to begin with.”
Gonzalez said as soon as he realized this was happening, it reminded him of their struggles during the pandemic.
“When people were talking about COVID and supply chains and lockdowns, no one really realized the impact that was going to have,” he said. “When a port shuts down, and you have so much product coming in daily and you stop the supply chain, it is like a wheel that is always spinning. We saw the effect during COVID when the wheel gets out of balance. Instead of being smooth, it’s imbalanced so it takes longer to get back in.”
Gonzalez said based on what they’re hearing throughout the industry, the port strike could have consequences for everyone economically.
“It is not just bananas that will see higher prices or issues coming to the states. That goes from canned goods to electronics,” he said. “The numbers they are predicting in this strike daily is going to affect $3.5 billion a day in commerce. Not a week, a day.”
Like some retailers and companies, Gonzalez is hoping President Joe Biden will step in, even though he has said he will not intervene.
Biden, who is pro-union, has the power to invoke the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, which would authorize the president to seek a court order for an 80-day cooling-off period for companies and unions to resolve their differences.
“I think that anytime commerce and economy is going to be affected, (Biden) needs to step in and say, ‘Let’s fix this now,’” Gonzalez said. “Think about the American consumer. We are already paying way too much as it is. I understand what they are doing and the point they are making, but really think about people who depend on these products.”
The last time a strike like this happened was in the early 2000s, when President George W. Bush invoked the Taft-Hartley Act after 29 West Coast ports locked out members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. The two parties eventually reached an agreement.
Gonzalez said he understands the fear of automation and pay concerns that are driving this strike, but he hopes, whether Biden intervenes or not, an agreement is reached sooner rather than later.
“Let’s just be patient and hopefully this thing will end quickly with winners on both sides,” he said.
