The dockworkers strike on the East and Gulf Coasts set off panic buying of toilet paper and paper towels at a Costco on Staten Island, the New York Post reports.
As the strike enters its third day, shoppers are growing increasingly alarmed over food and supplies, even though New York Governor Kathy Hochul and other officials have urged the public not to hoard goods.
Shoppers at the Costco on Richmond Avenue near the Staten Island Mall cleaned out paper goods items, leaving behind just a few pallets of Kleenex.
“Everyone came out because they’re worried about the strike,” said a shopper named Josephine. “You gotta get the milk, the bread, and the eggs — but they came out for the paper towels, too.”
Josephine said she’s not too troubled about stocking her own pantry and refrigerator yet — but “will be worried in another week. I think the president should shut it [the strike] down because this is going to hurt the economy. By the time Christmas comes, everybody is going to be broke.”
Experts say panic buying in non-perishable goods is not necessary since the U.S. produces 90% of its toilet paper domestically, with the remainder made in Canada and Mexico and brought into the country by rail or truck.
However, Hochul and other officials have admitted that the port strike will impact perishable imports, such as bananas, cherries, cocoa and sugar.
President Joe Biden has the power under federal law to order the dockworkers to return to work. He has said he will not intervene but on Wednesday said the port “consortium is basically six owners that controlled all the ports from all the way East Coast down around the Gulf — and they made incredible profits, over 800% profit since the pandemic. The owners are making tens of millions of dollars from this.”
Also Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris picked a side in the port workers’ labor dispute, saying she supports the striking longshoremen.
“This strike is about fairness,” Harris said. “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.”
The Longshoremen union is demanding a 77% pay increase and a ban on automation at the ports. As of midday Thursday, there were no signs the two sides are closer to a deal.
Harold Daggett, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association, led his 50,000 members in walking off the job Tuesday.
Daggett, who lives in a 7,000-square-foot mansion in a leafy New Jersey suburb, has vowed he is willing to “cripple” the U.S. economy, which stands to lose billions of dollars as a result of the work stoppage.
The Conference Board puts the cost at around $540 million per day, while analysts at JPMorgan estimate the cost each day that the port workers are out on strike could be as much as $5 billion.