ABC Urges Biden to Invoke Taft-Hartley Act

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 — Associated Builders and Contractors today issued the following statement responding to the International Longshoremen’s Association strike at East and Gulf Coast ports. 

In this, their first strike since 1977, longshoremen are demanding higher wages and promises that no jobs would be lost to automation.

“ABC urges President Joe Biden to invoke his powers under the Taft-Hartley Act to restore operations at the ports and bring parties to the negotiating table so a contract can be reached with the help of a federal mediator,” said Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of legislative & political affairs. “If the Biden-Harris administration is serious about rebuilding America––and maximizing hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer investments in infrastructure, clean energy and manufacturing––the construction industry simply cannot afford any more supply chain disruptions and additional cost hikes on critical materials.

“The price of construction materials has already increased by 40% since February 2020 and there have been reports of widespread shortages of key construction materials,” said Swearingen. “Coupled with the construction industry’s skilled labor shortage topping half a million in 2024, these industry headwinds needlessly inflate the cost of federal and federally assisted construction projects and are exacerbated by this administration’s weak leadership and anti-competitive executive actions.”