DUNDALK, Md. — The livelihoods of thousands of workers who process goods passing through the Port of Baltimore hang in the balance as cargo shipments grind to a halt after a container ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge this week.
“These longshore workers, if goods aren’t moving, they’re not working,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said following Tuesday’s crash, which killed six construction workers on the bridge when it collapsed into the Patapsco River. “They’re likely working right now, but that work won’t last long, and that’s one of our main areas of concern.”
Buttigieg noted the port produces $2 million in wages each day for the workers who make a living there, like crane technician Steve Rehak and his two sons.
“It’s pretty devastating,” said Rehak, 61, who added that he has worked at the port for 14 years. “When the ships aren’t here, you’re not making any money.”
Rehak says he will still work for the foreseeable future conducting preventive maintenance and repairs, but his hours have been cut to 40 hours per week — eliminating lucrative overtime.
“This is gonna be tough on them,” he said about his sons’ financial stability.
While crane technicians typically work around the clock regardless of cargo traffic, longshoremen work only when ships are present.
For Shawn Jackson, a longshoreman daily hire, the uncertainty is the hardest part.
“It’s the stress of not knowing,” he said of the lack of a timeline for the port’s reopening.
“The workers are worried,” said Tim Krajewski, secretary-treasurer for the International Longshoremen’s Association’s Local 333 chapter. “It’s a family-sustaining job, and them losing all that income — you’re not just talking severances, you’re talking flat cut when ships don’t come in, period.” Most workers take shifts day by day.
The Port of Baltimore, which comprises publicly and privately owned marine terminals, said Friday that despite…
Read the full article here
