Local businesses preparing as dockworkers strike nationwide
Experts believe the work stoppage could snarl supply chains — leading to shortages and higher prices if it stretches on for more than a few weeks.
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In a fight over better pay and automation, tens of thousands of dockworkers from Maine to Texas went on strike starting today.
The nationwide dispute is likely to have local consequences.
Supply chain experts say consumers won’t see an immediate impact from the strike because most retailers stocked up on goods. But if it goes more than a few weeks, a work stoppage could lead to higher prices and delays in goods reaching households and businesses.
While large retailers have the money and ability to stock up on certain items like produce, local and small business owners do not.
"Once there's a delay, whatever is here, prices will double," said Steve Papakonstantis, owner of Top Tomato in West Yonkers.
Papakonstantis, who has owned Top Tomato in West Yonkers for 34 years, said he's worried for his customers as well as his business.
Retailers, auto parts suppliers and produce importers had hoped for a settlement or that President Joe Biden would intervene and end the strike using the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows him to seek an 80-day cooling-off period.
But during a Sunday exchange with reporters, Biden, who has worked to court union votes for Democrats, said “no” when asked if he planned to intervene in the potential work stoppage.
