TAMPA, Fla. — Tens of thousands of dockworkers are officially on strike, shutting down ports, including right here in Tampa.
Gregory Williams runs Brick City Bricks, a family-owned LEGO store in downtown Plant City. The store relies on overseas shipments to keep its shelves stocked.
“A lot of the distributors that we buy from, get products from overseas also. We do buy from quite a few distributors, so our distributors are going to have a hard time getting their products so that’s going to impact our business,” said Williams.
He hopes a U.S. Port strike doesn’t last too long, as he fears it will raise shipping prices.
“It has a trickle down on everybody from the big guys, from the Walmarts, the Amazons, all the way down to the little guys like us, to the consumers. It's going to affect everybody. Everything goes up, transportation costs is going to go up then of course our prices have to go up,” said Williams.
Port of Tampa Bay workers joined 45,000 union dockworkers along the East and Gulf Coasts who walked off the job Tuesday.
This strike could disrupt the flow of almost half the goods that come into the U.S. Fresh fruit, clothes, cars, and auto parts could be in shorter supply and then become more expensive.
“The bigger hit will be on appliances. Things like cars. Anything where you need 100 components, but even one component comes from Europe. For those people, it will be problematic,” said Dr. Piyush Shah, FGCU professor of supply chain management.
Experts said this won't be an issue right away, but it will arise if the strike lasts about 3 to 4 weeks.
The workers are asking for higher wages and limits on the use of automated machines.
"I just hope the strike is resolved soon just for the sake of everybody,” Williams said.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
