Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., called on President Joe Biden on Thursday to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act in response to the port workers' strike that has paralyzed ocean shipping on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico.
The 1947 Taft-Hartley Act 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.
"It is in the interest of the American people and the economy of Maryland for the President to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, order the disputing parties in this port strike to the negotiating table, and intensively arbitrate," Harris said in a statement. "The President should not allow this strike to ruin the economy or disrupt the supply chain."
Ports from Maine to Texas shut down early Tuesday when the union representing about 45,000 dock workers went on strike for the first time since 1977.
If a shutdown lasts more than a few weeks, it could raise prices and create shortages of goods across the country as both the presidential election and holiday shopping season approach.
Biden could suspend the strike by invoking the Taft-Hartley Act, but he didn't seem inclined to do so when asked about it by reporters on Sunday.
When asked if he planned to intervene in the longshoremen's labor dispute, the president said "no."
"Because it's collective bargaining, I don't believe in Taft-Hartley," he said.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters on Thursday that container loads of highly-perishable bananas are stuck at some ports and the strike will make it difficult to retrieve them in time to prevent spoilage. Biden has pushed shipping companies to try harder to reach a deal, he said.
"That's the most effective way of getting the bananas to wherever they need to go," Vilsack said. "And hopefully the shippers will come to the table. The union will come to the table. Collective bargaining will work, and we'll get this resolved quickly."
The key to preventing product shortages and higher prices, Vilsack said, is limiting how long the strike lasts.
"Our assessment is if this lasts a couple of weeks, we're not talking about a significant disruption," he said. "If you get into months, then obviously that's a different situation."