Trade

Dockworker Chief Aims to Make History With Election Day Looming

Smucker says it’s evaluating West Coast shipping routes
Automakers have activated contingency plans to ensure supplies

Historic Strike at Eastern US and Gulf Ports Begins

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By Laura Curtis, Deena Shanker, and Michael Sasso

October 1, 2024 at 5:18 PM UTC

Updated on

October 1, 2024 at 8:48 PM UTC

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Union chief Harold Daggett, clad in a blue sweatshirt that read “The Docks Are Ours,” relished the fear he says gripped his negotiating rivals when they saw his opposition to automation — a key sticking point in the first strike on the US East and Gulf ports since 1977.