The typical holiday calm at the region’s ports has been replaced by a series of emergency strategy sessions as officials try to determine exactly how to handle a longshoremen strike expected to start Sunday.
Port managers, after a meeting yesterday morning, told The Post they believe there will be no last-minute agreement between the dock-workers union and the shipping companies to avert a walkout.
The labor action would shutter nearly all shipping activities from the East Coast to Texas — including the Port of New York and New Jersey. The one bit of good news, the managers said, is that any work stoppage would probably be short-lived and have little immediate effect on consumers.
“Everyone figures the president will use his authority to reopen the ports and bring in federal mediation,” a source said. “There’s no way the president is going to go into the inaugural address with the ports shut.”
Estimates show a strike at the docks would cost the New York area $140 million a week in lost wages and an additional $113 million a week in lost economic activity connected directly to the ports.