On October 1, members of the International Longshoremen's Association began a strike at 36 ports on the East and Gulf coasts of the US. This marks the first dock workers' work stoppage of this scale since 1977, and is estimated to halt about half of the country's ocean shipping.
An estimated 45,000 workers are on strike right now as I write this. Those workers want wage increases; that much is true. But more than that, they also want sufficient protections in place against automation.
And it's no wonder why.
Dockworker jobs are under threat from automation, with 572 full-time jobs already being eliminated in 2020 and 2021 at the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles, according to the Economic Roundtable. If it was you, you'd also be interested in fighting for your job, against automation, and hope you had a strong union to stand up and fight for and alongside you. It's literally the definition of the words "an existential fight."
Other publications will tell you about the economic impacts to this country and stress the numbers on a spreadsheet. But the important thing to remember is that none of this is bloodless.
It's about real, everyday people and their livelihoods, and no matter what industry you work in, I think that's infinitely relatable content. It'll also likely affect our favorite powersports OEMs, as well as you, the consumer.
I reached out to powersports manufacturers in the US to ask how the strike would impact them. Please note that while I reached out to a number of OEMs, not all of them had responded by publication time. As and when I receive additional responses, I will update this post to keep them all in one place.
Here's what the OEMs had to say.
American Honda
A representative for American Honda told me, "There may be some effect on arrival of products for Honda Powersports. Many of our motorcycle products are shipped through those ports around US."
They added, "American Honda will monitor the developing ILA labor strike daily and continuously work to minimize the product supply impact."
BMW Motorrad North America
A representative for BMW Motorrad North America said, "Any potential strike would impact East Coast and Gulf ports -- Port Jersey, Baltimore, Brunswick, and Galveston – as well as Charleston, which is primarily an export hub for us. We’re planning for contingencies and will work to minimize any impact on our business."
Kove USA
A representative for Kove Moto USA told me that, "At the moment, we have pretty good inventory of the current models. Hopefully, things will be cleared out before the 800s are available to ship, and other models."
Triumph Motorcycles America
A representative for Triumph Motorcycles America said, "We are aware of the strike and are in touch with our partners for any potential impact."
Yamaha Motor Corp USA
A representative for Yamaha Motor Corp USA told me that, "There are no short-term impacts to our business, and we are closely monitoring the situation."
As other publications have noted, this strike impacts pretty much every type of good that Americans enjoy, from motorcycles and powersports equipment and gear to just about anything else that you can think of.
According to Reuters, more than half of the vehicles that come into the US do so via containers arriving in the East and Gulf ports represented by the workers currently on strike. In fact, of the broad categories tabulated by Reuters for the piece I linked, all of them ship more heavily through the East and Gulf Coast ports than the West Coast, with the exception of Toys.
As we said, we'll update this page if and when we hear from the other manufacturers we reached out to.
