Military base commissaries and exchanges have been ordering more stock for weeks in anticipation of a looming port strike that could shut down ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast, affecting the supply of goods.
The Defense Commissary Agency has taken steps since August to lessen the impact of possible disruptions, said John E. Hall, director and CEO of the agency.
That includes increased grocery orders for commissaries in Europe and Puerto Rico, which would be affected by a port work stoppage. Officials are also working with the industry sealift carriers to make sure all booked containers clear the port of Norfolk, Virginia, before the end of September, he said.
If a strike does happen, Hall said, DeCA is preparing to be able to use military airlifts of priority products into Europe and Puerto Rico.
That includes fresh beef, items such as baby formula, baby food, bread, hot and cold cereal, cheese, eggs, frozen juice, milk, frozen vegetables and certain canned foods.
“If we have additional capacity, we will also include highly sensitive chilled products,” he said.
Those decisions about airlifts will be based on customer need, product shelf life, projected port deliveries, and availability of products from local and U.S. suppliers.
“DeCA can assure our customers that we diligently monitor inventory levels and maintain regular communications with our industry suppliers to support the grocery needs of our patrons,” Hall added.
The general consensus is that if the strike is goes on for more than a week, it would cause major disruptions. It could take five to six weeks to recover after even one week of a strike.
And other shipments in the military community could be affected, too, such as shipments to and from overseas of service members’ household goods and vehicles, which go on commercial carriers.
U.S. Transportation Command did not respond by Military Times’ deadline to questions about the potential effects on service members and families, and any actions being taken to plan to mitigate any problems.
The International Longshoremen’s Association’s six-year contract is set to expire on Monday, and the union says it will strike at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. A strike would shut down as many as 36 ports that handle nearly half of the cargo going in and out of the U.S. on ships, the AP noted.
If a strike does happen, it would be the first national work stoppage by the ILA since 1977, according to the AP. Even a brief strike would cause disruptions to the economy, and create a shipping backlog.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the U.S. Maritime Alliance, representing East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, posted a statement online Thursday that they’ve filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, asking that federal agency to require the Longshoremen’s union to resume bargaining.
It’s not clear how many aspects of the military community this would affect. ILA President Harold Daggett posted on the union’s Facebook page that their 85,000 members will continue to handle all military cargo, even if there is a strike. The union will also continue to work passenger cruise vessels, Daggett said.
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Military exchanges
Exchange officials say they don’t expect stores to be affected by a short-time strike, but that will change if there is a prolonged strike, just as it will affect retail stores across the country.
The Army and Air Force Exchange Service and Navy Exchange Service Command have been increasing their stock over the last several weeks, and a short-term strike isn’t expected to affect customers..
AAFES’ logistics and merchandising teams are working to ensure exchange stores are prepared for possible broader challenges in the event of a longer shutdown of ports, said AAFES spokesman Chris Ward
In addition to increasing stock to bolster levels in overseas distribution centers, NEXCOM officials have put airfreight carriers on standby in case they need to ship merchandise by air, spokesperson Kristine Sturkie said.
“In the event of a prolonged strike, NEXCOM would pivot to shipping ocean containers from the West Coast and air freighting merchandise, as needed, to fill gaps in the pipeline,” she said. “Depending on the length of time of the potential strike, NEXCOM can move shipments from the West Coast to Europe, Bahrain and Djibouti, ensuring we have the merchandise our military members and families need on our shelves.”
Marine Corps exchange customers should see minimal impact as their exchanges don’t move products in or out of East Coast or Gulf Coast ports. Since all their overseas bases are in the Pacific, their direct operations are West Coast-focused, spokesperson Bryan Driver said.
But he noted that their vendors might be affected by the strikes, “with as-yet-undetermined future impact to our supply chain.”
The looming strike comes at a time when the military exchanges have been getting shipments of holiday items in preparation for the heavy Christmas shopping season. Officials don’t expect those shipments to be affected. Many of the Navy exchange holiday items have already shipped to the overseas stores, said NEXCOM’s Sturkie.
Household goods shipments
The moving industry is also unclear about which military cargo would be moved and whether it would include service members’ household goods in the event of strikes.
“We haven’t heard directly from the [International Longshoremen’s Association] on military cargo, or [household goods] specifically,” said Daniel Bradley, vice president of government and military relations for the International Association of Movers. “We hope to have more clarity with respect to what cargo may continue to be moved if a strike occurs.”
He said it’s not clear if dockworkers would know which shipments to move, “since outside of military-centered ports and obvious military cargo, most [household goods] shipments are containerized and not as obvious.”
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book “A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families.” She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.