KOA Headlines: MSU Economics Professor Kishore Kulkarni on impact of longshoreman strike

October 2, 2024

Speaker 1:
The now underway long shortman strike heading into day two,
union bosses fighting for large wage increases and commitments to
limit the automation of port jobs.

Speaker 2:
The strike itself threatens the supply chain and the distribution
of goods throughout the country, potentially impacting the economy. Joining
us now on the KA Common Spirit Health hotline is
MSU Denver Economics professor. It's Kilshore could Carney, Professor Kulcarney.
Thank you so much for your time this morning. Our
Business and Money editor Patwitard is on this conversation as well,
as we've been talking about it at length in our Business and Money news segments. I think I'll start by
opening it by asking how severe is this situation right now?
Are we going to see the panic buying? Are we
going to see the hoarding of products? Is this going
to be a situation that is more dire than what
it currently is?

Speaker 3:
Well, it has the potential to do that, But first,
thank you for having me again, Gina. But yeah, it
has a potential of being a full blown crisis situation
if it lasts more than a say, ten days to
two weeks.

Speaker 4:
Now, we're already seeing several business groups saying that small
businesses in particular can't endure a long strike, and they're
calling for presidential intervention. The president says he has no
intention of ordering the workers to go back to work
while negotiations continue. I would think the longer this goes on, though,
the more pressure the administration is going to be on to do something.

Speaker 3:
Yeah, I think so. I think that's a very rational
pressure as well, because the president does have an authority
to break the strike, just like President Reagan dated for
a traffic controllers strike back in nineteen eighty, because these
are essential services and I know there is a big economic impact if we stay longer.