The U.S. relies on importing bananas, and about three-quarters of the country's supply are handled by port cities along the Gulf and East Coasts.
In the first nine months of the year, the supply chain had already seen 2.2 millions tons of bananas go through those entry points. That's just a small fraction of the products handled by the thousands of dockworkers employed up and down the seaboard.
So when those workers announced that an October 1 strike was looking more and more likely, the news sent shock waves through the country's supply networks — after all, many people eat a banana every day . The problem is a conflict between workers' unions and the companies in charge. In addition to wanting guarantees of job security in the face of a world that's getting increasingly reliant on automation, unions are asking for their members to be guaranteed an incremental 80% raise that would be implemented over the next few years.
Companies have been dragging their feet, leading the head of the International Longshoremen's Association, Harold Daggett, to issue some grim words of warning (via The OC Register ): "A sleeping giant is ready to roar on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, if a new Master Contract Agreement is not in place." Many products will be impacted by a strike, but bananas are unique Bananas aren't, of course, the only product that passes through the ports that may be shut down when around 45,000 workers would go on strike. Shortages might also be felt regarding other key good.
