Tile Roofing Industry Alliance Lobbyist, Craig Brightup, provided his statement on the dockworker’s strike and its potential impacts on the roofing industry in the latest Roofing Contractors E-news:

“Craig Brightup, CEO of The Brightup Group, a government relations consulting firm in Washington, D.C., said in terms of the roofing industry, companies installing roofing systems that rely on critical components coming over in these ports will feel the effects first.

“[T]here are certain items imported in terms of the commercial roof assembly where, if they don’t come over, you can never quite complete the job, that’s the scenario that I can see,” he said.

Brightup believes roofing could withstand the strike’s impact better than other industries, but the ripple effect caused by the overall economic slowdown will not spare roofing companies.

“Different commercial entities that may want to do a new roof system and have that in their plans in the not-too-distant future … if retailers and big-box people and shopping malls are suddenly impacted, they may have to recalibrate their plans to do roof maintenance, repair or have a new roof put on their facility,” he said.

However, the industry as a whole, especially companies that import materials and goods from Europe, could be affected.

“Any kind of stoppage on this is going to cause problems; if it’s a day or two, even that will cause some, but ultimately they may be able to get that unwound,” said Brightup. “If it’s longer than that, it really, really could have a big impact.”

Thankfully, port operators have reached a tentative agreement. Below is a summary of updates on the agreements from various news sources compiled by Brightup:

The Washington Post reports that the striking dockworkers “agreed to go back to work Thursday evening after reaching a tentative agreement with port operators on Thursday for a 62 percent wage increase that extends the current contract through Jan. 15, for more time to bargain over remaining issues.” CNN reports that the “tentative deal would still need to be ratified by the rank-and-file ILA members before it would take effect.”

CNBC reports that the ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance said in a joint statement that they “have reached a tentative agreement on wages and have agreed to extend the Master Contract until January 15, 2025 to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues.”

The AP reports that the International Longshoremen’s Association “went on strike early Tuesday after its contract expired in a dispute over pay and the automation of tasks at the ports from Maine to Texas. The strike came at the peak of the holiday shopping season at 36 ports that handle about half the cargo from ships coming into and out of the United States.”

The New York Times says that the “agreement came after the White House pressed both sides to reach a deal to end the strike, the union’s first full-scale walkout since 1977.” The Wall Street Journal reports that President Biden “applauded the agreement, saying in a statement, ‘Collective bargaining works, and it is critical to building a stronger economy from the middle out and the bottom up.’” Politico reports, “Returning from a tour of hurricane damage, Biden told reporters his team had been working hard on the matter. Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su traveled to ILA headquarters Thursday morning and stayed with the parties throughout the day, according to a person familiar with the matter.”

The Washington Post says the deal “will spare the U.S. economy from the worst of the disruptions the work stoppage could have caused” and also “takes a difficult issue for the Biden administration out of play less than five weeks before the presidential election, in which the White House’s stewardship of the economy is a key issue.”

Still, Bloomberg reports, “Dozens of ships carrying containers and autos have anchored off the coast of major trade hubs including New York, South Carolina and Virgina over the past few days. The cargo backlog from three days of port closures is likely to take 12 days to clear, according to analysts. It was unclear on Thursday whether the terminals – which had to close up operations completely ahead of the strike — would be open this weekend to help clear the backlog.”

 In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal sharply criticizes politicians on both sides of the aisle for backing the ILA, and cites reporting about very high paying jobs for union members that may not actually require them to work, along with claims of ties to organized crime. The Journal says, “It’s fashionable in Washington these days to think that handing Big Labor more power will help workers and reduce inequality. It won’t. It will enrich labor bosses and assist the politicians they support, while damaging the economy and limiting the broader wage gains needed for shared prosperity.”