Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces Statewide Preparations in Anticipation of Potential Strike Action at U.S. East and Gulf Coast Ports

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that New York State entities are actively preparing ahead of a possible strike at ports from Maine to Texas beginning October 1, as negotiations between the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) are ongoing.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page has photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning, everyone. I'm here to update New Yorkers on an urgent matter that could impact our state in the coming days. I came down here to the Port Authority offices, and I'm joined by Rick Cotton, who is the Executive Director of the Port Authority, CEO of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Jackie Bray, our Commissioner of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, as well as Beth Rooney, the Port Director of the Port Authority who has been working around the clock to try and deal with the impending crisis.

You may have heard the news that contract negotiations are going on between the International Longshoremen's Association, that is the union that represents port workers all across the country and USMX. Now that deadline is rapidly approaching. If an agreement is not reached by later today, ports from Maine to Texas will face a strike - 47,000 workers. 4,500 of which are right here in the New York and New Jersey area and we represent the largest port on the East Coast, the second largest in the nation. The busiest in the nation.

So, I want to be clear. I urge USMX and the ILA to come to an agreement that respects workers, that ensures the flow of commerce through our ports. And the stakes are very high. The potential for disruption is significant. We've not had an event occur like this in our ports since 1977, and that lasted 12 days. We're deeply concerned about the impact that a strike could have on our supply chains, especially when it comes to critical goods like medical supplies and others. That's why I've been working tirelessly particularly for weeks, but in earnest over the last week to deal with every aspect of this, and you'll be hearing about the extraordinary measures, the long hours, the days, the weekends that have gone into really trying to make sure that we're prepared for this and addressing all the vessels that are in our port now, removing the cargo containers, and there'll be 100,000 cargo containers that'll be sitting in one of our 16 locations, filled with everything from automobiles to consumer goods.

We have been preparing for that and rapidly trying to take them off the ships now, get them on trucks and get them to their destinations at a hyperspeed, because we know the urgency is before us. So, I want to make sure that while we hope for a resolution to this matter that New York is fully prepared. We have been anticipating this. We're fully prepared to support our communities and maintain essential services if a strike does occur. I'm going to outline some of the steps that we're taking to prepare for this. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, as I said, has been working around the clock to get critical cargo out of our facilities, food products, medical supplies, and other essential goods. We're also working closely with the commercial trucking industry to ensure that these items reach their destination. This will be a major disruption for thousands and thousands of independent truckers as well.

We're really focused on medical supplies and making sure that all facilities have what they need to continue caring for their patients. Number one, when it comes to pharmaceuticals, I'm pleased to report that the majority of pharmaceuticals arrive to their destination by air travel. So, pharmaceuticals are not expected to be in a problematic situation. But I've directed our Department of Health to remind our healthcare workers that they're required to maintain 60 day stockpiles of personal protective equipment. We saw the need for this during the pandemic, as well as other supplies.

We're closely monitoring this situation and ready to deploy state resources if and when necessary. Again, the Department of Homeland Security, coordinating with all of our state agencies to prepare for any shortages of essential goods and materials. Our state stockpiles, including emergency generators, are ready to be mobilized at a moment's notice. While we're preparing for the worst, and that's what we're supposed to do in government, prepare for the worst. There's also some reassuring news. We don't anticipate shortages of essential goods anytime soon.

So for example, people do not need to rush out to the grocery store and stockpile goods like they did during the pandemic. I want to be very clear about that. We do not want to see people reach that level of anxiety because we are not there. Also, fuels like home heating oil, gasoline, diesel - we don't expect them to be affected in New York City because they're brought in by other vessels. And this is critical as we particularly approach the colder months.

Municipal solid waste operations will also be unaffected in the event of a strike, meaning your garbage will continue to be carted out and disposed of. What about the rest of the state? Our upstate ports, including Albany, Coeymans, Oswego and Buffalo, will not be impacted by a strike.They're represented by different unions. And also, our cruise ship industry, which hosts 25,000 passengers a week, will also be unaffected.

Now, everything we're talking about here today are precautionary. I just spoke again to the Governor of New Jersey, talking about their preparations. There has been intense coordination between the New York government and the New Jersey government, but also what's been happening in this building. The intensive coordination is quite extraordinary. We are hopeful that they will reach an amicable resolution to the negotiations and avert a strike, however, it's our responsibility to be prepared for any scenario and we take that very seriously.

I'll say this to the longshoremen and port workers: we recognize your vital role in keeping our State moving. Your work is absolutely essential and we support your right to fair treatment and working conditions. And to my fellow New Yorkers, rest assured that we're doing everything in our power to minimize potential disruption to your daily lives. Throughout our history, in moments like these, New Yorkers have always shown their resilience and camaraderie looking out for each other, and I'm confident that working together we'll be able to weather any challenges we face. I have been drilling down into the exact operations of what happens at five o'clock today, and again, assuring everyone that the cargo that has not been transported off site by trucks will be in secure places.

We've also been ramping up our security and there will be disruptions. Automobiles, if you're expecting to be able to get a new car this week, it may be something you want to check with your dealer. It may not be arriving, for example, in the next few weeks. That is one area we expect major disruptions. Not exactly a consumer item, but something like semiconductor chips.

We saw what happened during the pandemic when literally the automotive industry shut down in our country because we weren't able to get those essential chips that are basically the brains of any vehicle. So, there's a lot of areas where people may not have anticipated a disruption, but we have. We're working closely with the industry.

I will also say that the industries, the manufacturers, the suppliers have been anticipating this strike for a while. So, they have been moving at a higher speed to get product to ports and into their destinations earlier than anticipated as well. So, there's been a lot of preparation for this.

But here we are almost at the 11th hour, and I just wanted New Yorkers to know that we are very focused on this. We want to minimize disruptions to their lives. Do not have the level of anxiety that drives you out to get your groceries unnecessarily soon. We don't think there'll be a disruption to the food supply. But over time, if this goes on as long as the strike did in 1977, products that must come in on ships, like bananas, will be affected, but we still have plentiful food coming in from Canada, our own state, California, and Mexico. Those are the primary sources of food for the State of New York.

So, I just want everybody to not have the concerns about the food supply as well. At this point I want to introduce Rick Cotton, the Port Authority's Executive Director, who will provide more details and then we'll hear from Commissioner Bray as well.

Thank you.

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