MIAMI – Dockworkers remain on the picket lines for a third straight day at ports across the country, including the two major ones in South Florida.
Striking workers say, “Robots don’t pay taxes,” and “Automation hurts families,” and they want better pay.
Until they get it, work at PortMiami, Port Everglades and up the eastern seaboard remains at a standstill.
Florida International University professor Craig Austin told Local 10 News’ Layron Livingston that we get a lot things like bananas and other perishable produce and imported foods from those container ships, along with building materials, electronics, furniture and everyday goods.
“South Florida is going to suffer,” said Austin.
Thankfully, he said a lot of importers and retailers saw the writings on the shipping container wall and built up inventories ahead of the strike.
That being said, he still offered a warning.
“The longer this goes, the more expensive and the more painful it’s going to be for all of us,” Austin added.
It was certainly on the minds of shoppers Local 10 News spoke with outside a South Florida grocery store on Wednesday.
“We don’t want to get any worse,” said consumer Marcos Valdez.
“I’ve been thinking about that, too, so I bought, like, two, or three [things] more than I normally buy,” added shopper Elisa Fernandez. “Just a little bit more…just a little bit more. I don’t have a place to store at home, so for me, it’s a problem.”