As the news of tens of thousands of dock workers in United States going on strike spread, the United States recreated the scene of "rushing to buy toilet paper" during the new crown epidemic.
United States CNN reported on the 2nd that the shelves of toilet paper and paper towels in some supermarkets are now empty.
On October 1, workers went on strike at the port of Houston, Texas, United States. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Lao Chengyue)
A user of social media platform X wrote: "They ran out of toilet paper at Walmart in Virginia. Toilet Paper Hoarding Version 2.0! ”
Another wrote: "Coordinates in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Costco and Target have either little or no toilet paper on the shelves. ”
Tens of thousands United States of dock workers at key ports on the east coast and Mexico bay coast of United States have been on strike since October 1 as the International Longshoremen's Federation was unable to reach a new agreement with the management at the end of September. It was the first large-scale strike by dockworkers at ports on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico since 1977.
CNN reported that the dock workers strike will not actually trigger a shortage of toilet paper in the United States, because more than 90% of the toilet paper in the United States market is produced in local factories, and most of the rest is imported from Canada and Mexico. This means that most of the toilet paper is shipped by land, not by sea.
The Forest and Paper Association of United States pointed out that it was not toilet paper imports that were really affected by the strike, but U.S. toilet paper exports. Even if the United States market is affected by the strike, the likely scenario should be a backlog of toilet paper, not a shortage.
However, the above explanation has not quelled the panic of United States rushing to buy and hoard toilet paper. According to CNN, the strike has awakened United States people's bad memories of toilet paper shortages or purchase restrictions during the new crown epidemic.
This is a crane and container photographed at the port of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, on October 1. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Wei Lan)
While the rush to buy toilet paper in United States may be a misunderstanding, the United States docker strike may indeed create shortages of certain perishable goods that rely on imports, such as bananas.
CNN reported that bananas in the United States market are almost entirely imported, and in terms of consumption, bananas are one of the most popular fruits in the United States. More than half of United States' imported bananas enter the United States through the port terminals where the strike occurred, with the Port of Wilmington in Delaware accounting for more than a quarter, according to data provided by the Federation of Farm Associations of United States.
There was no progress in the negotiations between the dock workers and the management on the 2nd. The International Federation of Longshoreworkers advocates for a large wage increase in the new contract, citing that inflation in the United States has far outpaced wage increases over the past six contract years. In addition, the union has demanded that more than 30 ports be banned from using automated machinery to load and unload goods.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Zhao Hanlu Text Editor: Song Hui Title Image Source: IC PHOTO Picture Editor: Xu Jiamin
Source: Author: Xinhua News Agency