Puerto Rico governor monitors Jacksonville port amid nationwide dockworker strike

Longshoremen walk the picket line outside of the Barbours Cut Container Terminal during the first day of a dockworkers strike on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

By Mivette Vega

October 2, 2024

Eighty percent of the products consumed in Puerto Rico are imported. One of the main ports the island receives its cargo from is Jacksonville.

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi urged island residents on Monday to remain calm as dockworkers along the East Coast of the US went on strike.

US ports from Maine to Texas shut down Tuesday when the union representing about 45,000 dockworkers went on strike for the first time since 1977.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) is demanding significantly higher wages and a total ban on the automation of cranes, gates, and container-moving trucks that are used in the loading or unloading of freight at 36 US ports.

Eighty percent of the products consumed in Puerto Rico are imported. One of the main ports the island receives its cargo from is Jacksonville.

“We are monitoring the impact of this labor conflict. The port we are keeping an eye on is Jacksonville (Florida) because a large part of the maritime cargo comes from that port. The information I am receiving at the moment is that cargo operations at that port (Jacksonville) have nothing to do with this labor conflict and should not be affected,” Pierluisi said at a news conference.

According to information that has come to light, the island has supplies for two weeks, so the labor-management situation affecting some 14 ports in the eastern United States and the Gulf of Mexico should not interrupt supplies arriving to the island.

Pierluisi said he is in communication with federal authorities, mainly Secretary of the United States Department of Commerce John Bryson.

“He is very attentive because something that we want to achieve is an agreement that the flow of transportation of the products that we receive from that particular port, but I would say from all (the ports), will not be interrupted,” Pierluisi said.

A prolonged shutdown could lead to higher prices on goods nationwide and might create shortages and price hikes for both large and small retailers as the holiday shopping season and a competitive presidential election draw near.

Author

Mivette Vega

Mivette Vega is a seasoned journalist and multimedia reporter whose stories center the Latino community. She is passionate about justice, equality, environmental matters, and animals. She is a Salvadorrican—Salvadorian that grew up in Puerto Rico—that has lived in San Juan, Venice, Italy, and Miami.

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