Why the US port workers' strike won't impact cruises

Members of the important International Longshoremen’s Association union, with tens of thousands of workers at some of the country's busiest East Coast ports, began setting up pickets after talks in a wage dispute broke down.

Military cargo and cruise ships unaffected

But ILA President Harold Daggett promised that military cargo and cruise ships will be unaffected by the action.

Checks with major Florida cruise homeports confirmed that.

As Daggett said ahead of the strike — which could seriously impact US trade depending on how long it drags out — ILA workers will continue to work cruise ships at all ILA ports, to not inconvenience the tens of thousands of Americans who have booked trips in advance.

ILA porters participated in a hospitality training program earlier this year at Port Everglades PHOTO: PORT EVERGLADES

'We understand'

'We understand that many families plan and pay for cruise vacations on passenger ships more than a year out, and we don’t want them to be disappointed or inconvenienced in any way,' Daggett said.

Pandemic pain

'For almost three years during the worst of the pandemic, the cruise ship industry was shut down, and our ILA rank-and-file members handling passenger cruise vessels lost a lot of man-hours.'