About 45,000 port workers across the East and Gulf Coasts of the United States, including those in Baltimore, Maryland, went on strike on Tuesday as a midnight deadline for a new labor deal over wages and automation passed.
Labor negotiations stalled between the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), leading to the shut-down of up to 36 East and Gulf Coast ports.
The two sides, which had not been in formal negotiations since June, reportedly moved closer on wages on Monday, but apparently no deal had been reached.
The USMX, which represents the ports, said in a statement on Monday evening that it requested an extension of the current contract and increased its offer by raising wages by nearly 50 percent over the life of the contract.
The employer alliance pledged to keep the limits on automation in place from the old contract. But the labor union wants a complete ban on automation, according to an AP report.
A statement from the ILA said earlier on Monday that employers have refused to compensate workers fairly.
"The ILA is fighting for respect, appreciation and fairness in a world in which corporations are dead set on replacing hard-working people with automation," the ILA statement said, "Robots do not pay taxes and they do not spend money in their communities."
Local media reported that the ILA is seeking a 77 percent wage increase over the six-year life of the contract, for the union workers to make up for inflation and years of minimal raises.
The ILA members make a base salary of about 81,000 dollars per year, but some can pull in more than 200,000 dollars a year with large amounts of overtime, said the report.
Local experts estimate that the strike, the first by the ILA since 1977, could cost the U.S. economy up to 5 billion U.S. dollars a day, stirring inflation and supply chain concerns weeks before the presidential election.
There are fears that the strike could cause a shortage of supplies and rising prices of goods.
"I think right away you could start seeing shortages with respect to things like vegetables and fruits and things that are perishable that they've got to get in and out quickly. But the longer it goes on, the worse it could get, and more and more products are going to be affected. So, my hope is we can get it resolved sooner rather than later," said Larry Hogan, the former governor of Maryland who is now a Republican Senate candidate.
The affected ports handle roughly half the country's cargo ships. According to data from the National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports handle more than 68 percent of the country’s container exports and 56 percent of its container imports.
U.S. port workers strike over wages, automation
South China's Guangdong Province is accelerating its transformation into an international medical tourism hub, positioning itself as a destination for patients worldwide seeking affordable, high-quality care.
The push follows a joint initiative announced in late March by nine Chinese government departments, including the Ministry of Commerce, aimed at boosting spending by foreign tourists and enhancing exports of tourism services as part of broader efforts to expand the country's service sector.
Every day, some of the most complex surgeries are performed here. Li Zilun, deputy director of the division of vascular surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‑sen University, is among the doctors capable of carrying out these intricate procedures.
He recently completed surgery on a patient with an aortic aneurysm, a condition often described as a "time bomb" in the body’s main artery, increasingly common in aging societies around the globe. Li also specializes in highly difficult and pioneering procedures, including repairing leaks caused by failed grafts.
"This was a very challenging case. And then, we implanted the covered stent to eliminate the endoleak. Actually, the outcome was pretty good. The patient will be discharged today," said Li Zilun.
The ability to handle such complex cases -- combining international techniques with domestically produced devices -- is drawing patients from around the world to seek treatment. In addition, high safety standards and low costs are also major draws.
"Our government is encouraging innovation. So, lots of physicians -- including our vascular surgeons -- we are actively involved in the innovation that helps to increase the effectiveness and safety, and also bring down the cost," said Li.
This hospital is one of the first in Guangdong to be designated by the provincial health commission as a pilot site for building an international medical service hub.
The growing number of patients has pushed the hospital to explore new ways to transform every step -- from treatment to payment and everything in between -- into a seamless experience, reducing waiting times and delivering better care for patients.
"I think it's fast. When the patient come here for just about, I think, one week, you can solve the problem," said Xiao Haipeng, president of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.
The hospital is also deepening its international cooperation with top-tier medical institutions, including those at Harvard University.
"Not just for China, for the whole globe, we are facing health care challenges -- emerging infectious disease and chronic, lung infectious diseases, and also the aging population, also the shortage of healthcare workforce," said Xiao.
In response to these challenges, China is promoting its own solutions, including aggressive innovation in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven workflows, while stepping up research and development investment and global engagement along the way.
"In recent years, the innovation in Western medicine is dramatically growing. An example of my hospital -- in the past few years, we have 140 innovations and seven of them are international leading innovations," said Xiao.
As global demand for medical tourism grows, China is positioning itself as a new destination. Official data shows that the number of foreign patients in Guangdong increased by 20 percent last year. Among them, the growth in inpatient admissions was even faster, rising by 76 percent.
Guangdong fast-tracks pilot for int'l medical service hub
