Potential Longshoreman Strike - Impact to Cruise Ships?

[LetItSnow]

The longshoremen union is threatening a strike at US East and Gulf coast ports starting October 1.  It will impact supply chains for sure but I haven't been able to confirm if it affects cruise ships.  Does anyone know?  Are the people loading our ships with supplies, luggage, fuel, etc. part of the longshoreman union?

 

I leave out of FLL in November and would hate to see the sailing canceled.

 

[BklynBoy8]

Heard from a NYHarbor longshore friend. It will impact and cripple if it happens. He works NY, NJ piers.

 

Sounds like anything floats.

 

Hope for early settlement.

 

 

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, LetItSnow said:

It will impact supply chains for sure but I haven't been able to confirm if it affects cruise ships.  Does anyone know?

It does and it doesn't-- these things are mainly aimed at cargo and container ships. Sometimes when these happen there are carveouts for passenger ships and they are unaffected.

 

I do remember decades ago a strike while we were boarding QE2 in New York and it did affect luggage and loading stores onboard and the boarding process was a total disaster-- took hours and we didn't depart until after midnight when it should have been 4pm. All the ships staff took over longshoreman duties so when you finally did get onboard it was hopelessly understaffed and your luggage didn't show up until nearly the next morning. And this was on a ship that is vastly smaller than most of what sails today. 

 

So basically lets hope they mediate to a quick settlement or else your day will look like one of the two I describe above. 

[BklynBoy8]

4 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

It does and it doesn't-- these things are mainly aimed at cargo and container ships. Sometimes when these happen there are carveouts for passenger ships and they are unaffected.

 

I do remember decades ago a strike while we were boarding QE2 in New York and it did affect luggage and loading stores onboard and the boarding process was a total disaster-- took hours and we didn't depart until after midnight when it should have been 4pm. All the ships staff took over longshoreman duties so when you finally did get onboard it was hopelessly understaffed and your luggage didn't show up until nearly the next morning. And this was on a ship that is vastly smaller than most of what sails today. 

 

So basically lets hope they mediate to a quick settlement or else your day will look like one of the two I describe above. 

 

 

Their intention is make a point.

 

My brother was a custom inspector then and remembered it well.

 

He had to sleep on the pier, long hours. The harbor was darted with dozens of ships.

[Got2Cruise]

Wow. First I’m hearing about this as a NYer. 🙏that it’s settled.

 

It will be crippling not only for cruise industry but anything coming into the Port of NY for distribution. 
 

On top of that, there probably be picket lines you’d have to cross. 

[BklynBoy8]

42 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

Wow. First I’m hearing about this as a NYer. 🙏that it’s settled.

 

It will be crippling not only for cruise industry but anything coming into the Port of NY for distribution. 
 

On top of that, there probably be picket lines you’d have to cross. 

 

Even though there is a lot in the city/country before Christmas delivered, the further deliveries are yet to come before the Holidays to the stores.

 

 

 

 

[lx200gps]

14 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

It does and it doesn't-- these things are mainly aimed at cargo and container ships. Sometimes when these happen there are carveouts for passenger ships and they are unaffected.

 

I do remember decades ago a strike while we were boarding QE2 in New York and it did affect luggage and loading stores onboard and the boarding process was a total disaster-- took hours and we didn't depart until after midnight when it should have been 4pm. All the ships staff took over longshoreman duties so when you finally did get onboard it was hopelessly understaffed and your luggage didn't show up until nearly the next morning. And this was on a ship that is vastly smaller than most of what sails today. 

 

So basically lets hope they mediate to a quick settlement or else your day will look like one of the two I describe above. 

In this day and age i would be surprised if that was allowed to happen. I would think that the union(s) will not allow ANYONE to perform "their" duties and would cause massive disruptions through picketing. Baggage could not be loaded, truck drivers bringing supplies to the ships will honor picket lines etc. Fingers crossed they get this sorted out as we sail on the Sun in mid-October out of Port Everglades

[Got2Cruise]

16 hours ago, BklynBoy8 said:

 

Even though there is a lot in the city/country before Christmas delivered, the further deliveries are yet to come before the Holidays to the stores.

 

 

 

 

We can see all the container ships lined up all the way across the Long Island barrier beaches waiting for their turn to enter the port all year long. 

[BklynBoy8]

54 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

We can see all the container ships lined up all the way across the Long Island barrier beaches waiting for their turn to enter the port all year long. 

 

The point I was trying to make was a lot of Product is already delivered. But remaining products to be displayed and sold maybe still containerized and not delivered to vendors.

[chengkp75]

3 hours ago, BklynBoy8 said:

Don't know if Cruise ships or Cargo, which are easier? According to him, handling cruise is no different.

Working cruise ships requires just a few hours for the longshoremen, but they still get paid for a full shift, and the work is mainly tossing bags around and driving forklifts, not handling containers or break bulk cargo (if any is still carried).  This is why it is the choice assignment for senior longshoremen.

 

3 hours ago, BklynBoy8 said:

And the danger of handling cargo and tie down cable that can cut u in half.

Frankly, haven't seen any tie down cables in the last 3 decades.  Most of it is now solid rod rigging, and many ships don't use anything to tie the containers down but twitlocks and bridging clamps.

 

21 minutes ago, BklynBoy8 said:

The point I was trying to make was a lot of Product is already delivered.

For the last few decades, businesses around the world have depended on "just in time inventory", where they don't stock items ahead of anticipated sales, as this ties up money on the shelf.  This has been exasperated by Covid, and that is why you see holes in supermarket shelves, and other "out of stock" or low inventory items in store in general.  The 2022 longshore "slow down", while not a strike, did congest the ports and cause a lot of inflation from missing inventory on the store shelves.

[LetItSnow]

There are two threads going on this topic now.  In the other one, this post has a link to the ports that may be impacted.

 

 

[LetItSnow]

The Travel Scouts YouTube channel just reported on this (and even shows our Cruise Critic thread).  He provides a lot more insight plus a reference to a news report that cruise ships will not be affected.

 

 

 

[latebuyer]

My cruise is oct 7 (princess) out of boston. I’m wondering how much notice the cruiselne would have to give if the cruise is cancelled. My flight is oct 5 and boston isn’t a city i want to be stranded in due to high hotel prices. I am still hoping they pull a last minute deal.

[TheOldBear]

The union promises that passenger ships (and military cargo) will not be impacted by the strike.

 

https://ilaunion.org/ila-will-maintain-pledge-to-handle-military-cargo-during-strike-passenger-cruise-ships-to-be-unaffected-by-10-1-strike/

 

[latebuyer]

Thanks but someone in the princess app thread said the employer locked the union out in a 2001 or 2002 strike. Doesn't that mean they couldn't work if that happened?

[latebuyer]

Here is an article https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3073398

[chengkp75]

23 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Thanks but someone in the princess app thread said the employer locked the union out in a 2001 or 2002 strike. Doesn't that mean they couldn't work if that happened?

Yes, if the port operator locked the union out, they can't work.  However, the port operator that is being struck, US Maritime Alliance, does not operate the military docks, nor the cruise terminals.  While the same longshoremen's union represents both places, the cruise terminal operators have a separate contract from the cargo dock operators.

[latebuyer]

Thanks! That’s a relief.

[TPKeller]

On 9/28/2024 at 7:39 AM, TheOldBear said:

The union promises that passenger ships (and military cargo) will not be impacted by the strike.

 

https://ilaunion.org/ila-will-maintain-pledge-to-handle-military-cargo-during-strike-passenger-cruise-ships-to-be-unaffected-by-10-1-strike/

 

 

News is reporting the strike is on.  According to this statement, they will not impact cruise ships or military cargo.

 

They are apparently smart enough to avoid a PR disaster that would undermine their negotiations.

 

Theron

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, TPKeller said:

They are apparently smart enough to avoid a PR disaster that would undermine their negotiations.

No, they are smart enough to know that both the military and cruise contracts are the highest paying jobs they have, and the easiest work, so the senior longshoremen can still get an income during the strike.  Could care less about bad PR from someone's vacation being disrupted, especially as back ups at the ports starts to provide shortages at the grocery stores.

Edited October 1 by chengkp75

[LetItSnow]

They're on strike as of midnight last night.  Ft. Lauderdale is not affected and that's where I'll be cruising from in November but I'm interesting to see how things go for cruisers in other ports.

 

[latebuyer]

Princess hasn't sent out any information and cruise leaves oct 7. So do you think i should book an additional night in boston just in case? Is it better to book ship excursions in case of change of itinerary? I don't know whether to worry or not. It does say on ILA website that cruise ships aren't affected. I hope there is enough toilet paper! Maybe Princess stocked up!

[latebuyer]

My princess cruise is oct 7th and i haven't heard anything about changes. I tried phoning but they don't know anything.

[Got2Cruise]

I heard on the news radio in NYC that cruise ports are not affected. 

[chengkp75]

3 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

I heard on the news radio in NYC that cruise ports are not affected. 

Cruise terminals are not affected, but the rest of the port of NY/NJ (a cruise port) are affected.  And, as noted elsewhere, while you will get your luggage loaded, there may be some supplies and foods that are in short supply, because they could not be handled by the cargo operations in that port.