The Tribune

Super Value is “not going to roll over and play dead” on the US dock workers’ strike, its principal asserted yesterday, as he pledged: “We won’t allow one penny or 1 percent of inflation.”

Rupert Roberts promised Tribune Business that the supermarket chain will “stand up and fight for the consumer” amid fears the work stoppage by 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association could result in price increases and shortages of vital goods for The Bahamas depending on how widespread the strike becomes and its duration.

He added that Super Value is moving quickly to adjust and diversify both shipping and trucking routes as needed, as well as extending its buying reach to other global brands and sources, with the closest US shipping ports in Florida not yet shuttered by the strike which began yesterday.

However, Mr Roberts voiced concern to this newspaper that freight prices and shipping costs could ultimately rise in the long-term given the likelihood that the Association’s industrial muscle will probably secure a pay rise for its members. Port operators and shipping companies will then, in turn, pass these increased costs on down the supply chain until they reach the final end-user.

“They’re figuring things out every day,” Mr Roberts said of Super Value’s executive management and buying team. “One route closes down, they have to choose another. We’re not going to roll over and play dead. We’re going to fight this.

“We have over three months of inventory at hand, and we have the season. We have four months outstanding. Florida is not closed. Most of the stuff comes through Florida, and what does not come through their we are routing through Florida. 

“We’re going to protect the country. We’re going to stand up and fight for the consumer. We don’t intend to allow one penny or one percent of inflation to creep in,” the Super Value owner promised. “We’re so international we buy from all over the world. 

“Maybe price control will have to approve a new brand or two. We’re going to fight this for the public and protect them and take care of them. I’m really not so concerned about the strike, although I know the union will get their percentage. That’s a little bit of freight added on at the end of the day. The consumer will have to pay a little more. The union has the power, so they will win.”

The Bahamas’ vulnerability to supply chain shocks, as a small, import dependent country with minimal production or manufacturing capacity of its own, and relies on the outside world for virtually all it consumes,  was recently exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent backlogs.

However, the Government in a statement issues jointly by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources and Ministry of Transport and Energy, said Super Value as well as BISX-listed AML Foods and Tropical Shipping, one of the major freight carriers serving The Bahamas, had all confirmed their food supply chains had not been impacted by the US dock workers strike.

Asserting that “there is no disruption to the availability of food products in The Bahamas”, the Davis administration said it has been “actively monitoring” developments at the 36 strike-affected ports on the US east and gulf coasts and pledged to “keep a close watch on any developments”.

“We are confident that the current situation poses no immediate risks to the flow of goods into the country,” the Government added. Debra Symonette, Super Value’s president, reiterated to Tribune Business the 13-store chain’s belief that its three month-strong inventory provides a strong “buffer” against any fall-out from the US dock workers’ actions.

“We also have orders which we have placed which should be en route to us, which will add to our supplies,” she said. “Right now, I wouldn’t say we are in a total panic. We are more just hoping that everything is settled before our supplies are used up, and I feel pretty confident it will be settled before then. I feel comfortable that we can go another three months.

“Not all dock workers are unionised. We do have some companies we can call upon if we run into problems. The only thing we are afraid of is if everybody leans on those non-unionised operators they may find it difficult to keep up with the demand and shipments may take a bit longer.

“The other thing we’re afraid of is the cost going up, the price of freight, but we’re hoping it doesn’t come to that. We can stench on that, but when those prices reach a certain level we have to pass them on. No one wants to pay higher prices at the moment. We’re hoping it doesn’t come to that.”

Ms Symonette acknowledged that perishable items, such as meats, vegetables and fruits, pose a special challenge to keep fresh whenever there are supply chain delays and backlogs. Super Value, she added, is poised to seek out new suppliers and shipping routes as the need arises, and will also look to source from Bahamian farmers and producers although their output may be insufficient to fully satisfy demand.

Besides its duration and how widespread it becomes, the full impact of the US dock workers’ strike for Bahamian businesses, industries and this nation’s wider economy depends on multiple factors including the volume and type of goods they import via the US; from which port; and whether unionised or non-unionised labour is involved.

Christian Knowles, Aquapure’s operations chief, told Tribune Business that how the strike plays out is “the great unknown” as he confirmed that the bottled water manufacturer - which imports much of its raw materials - has sought to “head this off at the pass” via a proactive response.

“I don’t know yet,” he said of the impact. “I know we are going to feel it, but we’re trying to be quite proactive by heading it off at the pass. The more I hear about this, the more it seems like this will be longer than a day or two. In a nutshell, I think it’s going to wreak havoc on any sort of cargo that you’re getting from Florida.

“Fortunately, Tropical Shipping is not affected, but that’s really only a bit of the cargo coming into Nassau. It’s a good thing we have them. We’re looking to direct more things through them now. We do use them and have a very good relationship with them.

“But this is a great unknown. Is it going to be a couple of days or a week? If this is going to be a week, the supply chain in the US resets much easier than the supply chain in The Bahamas. We’ll have to see. These things are outside our control and we can only try to react to them as best we can.”

Mr Knowles, though, said The Bahamas has the benefit of experience from dealing with recent supply chain shocks following the COVID-19 pandemic. “I think it’s like COVID,” he added. “When we were in COVID, we didn’t know what was happening, how long things would take to get in or if we would get anything.

“We found a way to get it done. We’re going to employ the same tools now. Be more proactive, order more stuff and go to secondary and tertiary suppliers and see what they’re doing. Hopefully it doesn’t last long.”

Brent Burrows, vice-president of retail and sales at CBS Bahamas, sounded a “business as usual” message despite some bracing for disruption. “We’re paying close attention,” he said of the strike. “Nothing has been communicated to us officially from vendors or shippers yet,

“We will see how it plays out in the coming days. There is nothing new yet - business as usual. I just checked with our team and we have a container still supposed to sail on Thursday from Palm Beach, so seemingly the port of Palm Beach is unaffected at the moment.”

Given what is at stake for the US economy, the hope will be that the International Longshoremen’s Association union and the United States Maritime Alliance, the latter of which represents port and shipping company employers, will swiftly negotiate and conclude a new industrial deal to replace the one that expired on Monday and allay worker concerns over pay and increased automation.

Walter Wells, president and chief executive of Caribbean Bottling Company, the local Coca-Cola producer, told Tribune Business his firm’s analysis showed the dock workers strike is unlikely to have a major impact on its operations because both the carrier and port it uses for the majority of its US imports are both non-unionised.

“We’ve been looking at this now for over a month since it was initially announced, and we have come to the conclusion it should not have a significant impact on us because the bulk of our items are shipped through Tropical Shipping out of Florida and are brought down to Florida from elsewhere in North America,” he explained. 

“We’ve been informed that Tropical Shipping is a non-union carrier and the port they operate from, Riviera Beach, is a non-union port. Out of North America they bring 99 percent of everything we import. It looks like we’ll be K. Time will tell and hopefully there are no issues as a result.

“If there are other companies coming out of Miami and Port Everglades there may be repercussions. Truth be told, we all hope this gets resolved fairly quickly.... Nothing has been simple since COVID came along. It’s just a new era, a new time. We need to keep adjusting, keep changing. If you’re not flexible these days you’ll have a problem.”