When you rely on shipping to transport your goods, a dock worker strike has the potential to disrupt your operations. On July 1st, 2022, US workers across 29 ports saw their contacts expire. In 2014, the US faced slower dock operations for nine months during contract negotiations, and it eventually took intervention from the government for operations to return to normal.

Supply chains are already under stress due to pandemic-related challenges and increased consumer spending. Here’s what you need to know about the impact of a dock worker strike on supply chains.

The Issues Caused by a Dock Worker Strike

Though dock workers in the US aren’t currently striking, if they can’t agree to an acceptable contract, strikes and intentional dock slowdowns become a possibility.

A dock worker strike or workplace slowdown prevents ports from running efficiently and at full capacity. As arrivals to US ports are delayed, this will cause international issues with supply chains. These delays can take weeks or even months for the supply chain to fully recover from.

Delays in shipping and processing goods aren’t immediately counteracted even if dock workers agree to a contract. Instead, it takes time and extra resources to transport goods to their destinations.