Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., told Newsmax on Friday that the tentative 62% pay raise the striking longshoremen negotiated will have a negative effect on the economy by driving up prices beyond what they already are as a result of inflation.
"I'll argue that it's not that good because what it signals, remember, it's a 62% wage increase over six years, so it's a 10% wage increase per year," Harris said during an appearance on "Wake Up America." "This is the spiral that we haven't yet seen, the labor costs spiral out of the Biden-Kamala Harris inflation problem. So, what you're going to see is … now you're going to see other workers who say, 'Wait a minute. The longshoremen just got a 10% per year increase. Why don't we get a 10% per year increase?' And now prices are going to spiral out of control, once again, again, because of the inflation debacle that is the result of the Biden-Kamala Harris administration."
On Thursday, the International Longshoremen's Association, which represents 45,000 American dockworkers, reached a deal with U.S. Maritime Alliance to suspend the three-day strike until Jan. 15 to allow for time to negotiate a new contract.
The union is set to resume work immediately. The strike was temporarily ended after the union and U.S. Maritime Alliance came to a tentative agreement on wages, with the ports increasing their wage offer from about 50% over six years to 62%.
When asked if a strike could happen again if the longshoremen's demands are not met in January, Harris predicted they would remain on the job.
"Well, they want more, but the raise was what they really wanted," he said. "And again, just so your viewers understand, it's 10% per year. A lot of people I know aren't getting 10% per year raises. So again, they got the majority of what they want. It's not going to happen in January."
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Nicole Wells ✉
Nicole Wells, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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