Former President Donald Trump said the longshoremen’s strike “would never have happened” if he were president.
Speaking at a rally in Saginaw, Michigan, the GOP nominee bashed Vice President Kamala Harris, saying she has “unleashed nothing but chaos and suffering for American labor” over the last four years.
“She’s made life excruciating for the blue-collar workers who make this country run, and now our entire nation is paying the price,” he said.
“If I was president, the longshoremen strike affecting the entire East Coast, and indeed the entire nation, would never have happened in the first place,” Mr. Trump said.
Roughly 45,000 dockworkers and longshoremen in dozens of East Coast ports started striking Tuesday for better pay and automation protection. The consequences of the tens of thousands of International Longshoremen’s Association members striking will be felt across the country, disrupting supply chains and potentially driving up prices.
The strike is just one of the crises swirling around the Biden-Harris administration as Election Day draws near for Ms. Harris. They also are contending with the devastation from Hurricane Helene and expanding warfare in the Middle East.
Both Ms. Harris and President Biden have backed the strike.
Mr. Trump said the issue “should’ve been settled” by Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris.
Ms. Harris blamed wealthy shipping companies for the walkout.
“This strike is about fairness. Foreign-owned shipping companies have made record profits and executive compensation has grown. The Longshoremen, who play a vital role transporting essential goods across America, deserve a fair share of these record profits,” Ms. Harris said in a statement.
She also said Mr. Trump “wants to pull us back to a time before workers had the freedom to organize.”
Some manufacturers and retailers are urging Mr. Biden to invoke a 1947 law to suspend the strike that has shut down 36 U.S. ports from Maine to Texas.
At issue is Section 206 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, better known as the Taft-Hartley Act. The law authorizes a president to seek a court order for an 80-day cooling-off period for companies and unions to try to resolve their differences.
Mr. Biden, who prides himself on being the most pro-union president in history, has vowed never to intervene in the strike.
According to the Congressional Research Service, about half the time that presidents have invoked Section 206 of Taft-Hartley, the parties worked out their differences. But nine times, according to the research service, the workers went ahead with a strike.
President George W. Bush invoked Taft-Hartley in 2002 after 29 West Coast ports locked out members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in a standoff. The two sides ended up reaching a contract.
• This article includes wire service reports.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.