By PJ Huffstutter, David Shepardson
CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nearly 200 agricultural groups urged the White House on Friday morning to address key problems in the U.S. agricultural supply chain in light of a possible port strike on the East Coast and Gulf Coast that could begin on Tuesday.
The groups said the industry faces “imminent and serious shipping disruptions” due to a potential work stoppage, disrupted rail lines and historically low river levels that are supporting grain barge shipments and affecting trade with Mexico, according to a Reuters review letter.
The groups asked the federal government to direct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the lower Mississippi River to preserve 12-foot-deep canals and intervene to slow grain shipments by rail from the U.S. to Mexico to reopen.
They also asked the Transportation Department to consider issuing an emergency hours of service waiver for truckers at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports.
The letter, drawn from a broad cross-section of the country’s food and agriculture supply chain, said such disruptions are already happening ahead of a possible strike on October 1 at ports that handle about half of the country’s ocean trade, including consumer goods such as coffee. meat and eggs.
On Thursday, employers negotiating labor contracts at ports on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the union. They said these leaders are refusing to resume talks ahead of the threatened strike.
The United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) said it filed the complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over the International Longshoremen’s Association’s repeated refusal to return to the bargaining table.
The six-year framework contract between USMX and the ILA expires on Monday and the two sides appear to be at an impasse over wage issues.
Friday’s mission underlines growing concerns among the country’s agricultural sector. U.S. farmers are starting to harvest what is expected to be a record crop of soybeans and corn, at a time when global supplies are already high and prices are hovering around four-year lows.
The letter also comes just two days after some of the same organizations asked the Biden administration to take action to avert the potential labor strike to prevent damage to American agriculture and the economy.
“These disruptions will have a ripple effect across the United States” unless the administration takes action, the letter said. The White House did not immediately comment.
Meanwhile, low water levels on inland rivers have caused barges to run aground along a key stretch of the lower Mississippi, forcing barges to carry lighter loads just as the busiest U.S. grain export season gets underway.
