Ports

The container-shipping industry is more consolidated than ever. As of this month, the world’s top ocean carriers are now mostly in three major alliances, set to control 90 percent of seaborne cargo. That changes the game for many of the country’s ports, who are themselves beginning to work together.  Click the audio player above to […]

Their union has the power to shut down all 29 ports on the West Coast.

A strike by East Coast dockworkers has been put off at least 30 days. These union members are often highly skilled, and they're critical to vital bottlenecks of global trade: ports.

We head into the weekend facing not one, but two possible shocks to the economy. There's the fiscal cliff, of course. And then there's the ports. Unionized longshoremen at 14 ports from Maine to Houston threaten to strike at midnight on Saturday, over a pay dispute.

The stuff we all buy – shoes, clothes, tools and nails – could all be harder to come by starting soon. Longshoremen on the East Coast and shipping companies and port operators have until midnight Sunday to work out a new contract.