Under Savernas. This morning, a trade crisis averts it. US DOC worker is ending a three day strike the temporarily halted East Coast trade. The union extending its contract through January fifteenth, allowing more time for negotiations and avoiding a contentious labor and economic battle just ahead of the election. Joining US now and pleased to say the National Economic Council Director Leo Brainer, Director Brainer, thank you very much
for giving your time to Bloomberg TV this morning. The first question we all have is how much progress have we actually made ahead of January fifteenth. You've been a big part of the conversation. Could you share some of that information with us.
There's tremendous progress. The most important thing, our ports are back open, our dock workers are back at work. American consumers really won't see any effect of this at all. And again we see that the collective bargaining really works when you support it and give it a chance, which is what the Vice President of the President have always done in terms of the progress at the bargaining table. For many months, the two parties hadn't been working together.
Now they have extended the contract in order to really roll up their sleeves and address the remaining issues on the table. Having now solved the wage piece of this, so good news for everyone.
I think some people would argue the remaining issue is the hardest issue. It's automation, and they're trying to work out whether this punt, if we can call it, that was about the election just to push this out to January fifteenth, or whether it's about doing the patriotic thing and making sure that we could get the things we needed to get to the disaster designs across the country following the hurricane from the ports and through this country
efficiently and effectively. Can you share with this Director branded what this was really all about.
Absolutely so. On the part of the carriers, the port operators, and the dock workers, they all wanted to get back to work. I think it was a patriotic effort. We wanted to make sure that the hurricane supplies are moving, that consumers don't see any effects, as well as American farmers and exporters. So I think on all sides, there was a real desire to get to a solution that could carry them forward, get back to the negotiating table,
get those ports open, get back to work. Director brainer, what.
Is the White House deem acceptable when it comes to the language on automation.
So we really don't take a position on how the collective bargaining process resolves. What we do care about is making sure that we support the collective bargaining process and allow the parties to come to conclusion that works for both sides. And that's the role we really played here was bringing the two sides together, encouraging them to find something that they could agree on. And they did find agreement on wages and agreement on extent unding the contract
to January fifteenth. So I think what we did was support the collective organing process, support the parties getting back to the table. The rest is really up to them.
You've done a lot of work, though, Director Bran And when you came into the West Wing on supply chain and supply chain resiliency. How does the White House way given all your work, the fact that we could have more efficient ports, is that more important competing with China? These efficient ports or union jobs?
So of course what is very important is to make sure that we are making all the improvements that we can to our supply chains. And as you know, we have massive investments now through the bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In our ports, we also have a Supply Chain Council at the Cabinet level that I run on behalf of the President, so we have much more data across the supply chain.
There is a flow office now at the Department of Transportation that helps all the participants, the carriers, the operators, the retailers, the farmers have the data they need to plan ahead and to mitigate. And that process was on display in the wake of the Baltimore Bridge collapse, and it was on display in the week's leading up to this successful extension of the contract and resolution of the wage issues.
Do you think there's a chance that we can get to the automative language of this before January fifteenth?
I think that the carriers, the operators, and the dock workers know they have work to do to find an acceptable outcome on that and many other issues. But I have a lot of optimism now that they're talking to each other, that they really made a good faith effort on the wage piece and that moved these negotiations forward again. They had not been speaking to each other for months, and our interest was really getting the two parties back to the bar table on the basis of a fair wage.
Don't forget these dock workers in the previous six year contracts. Some years they got no wage increases at all. Other years they got one dollar. Meanwhile, we had COVID, we had dock workers really risking their lives to keep goods moving on. Behalf of American consumers and businesses, and the port and carriers really during this last few years had record profits. And this is a deal that could give workers their fair share after a period of having a very little wage gain.
So it's a.
Nice important step forward. Of course, they have more work.
To do, Director brainer And I can say I'm really impressed in your ability to focus with them mowing the lawn and yelling behind you, because honestly, it's always sort of unfathoma flow. They're always mowing the lawn there, So thank you for that. I am wondering, though, Director of BRAINERD, how much.
You see sort of necessity for workers to have to be kind of flexible at a time of great change, and that there are some technological changes that are more easily implemented if companies have the ability to figure it out as they go along to not necessarily be beholden to contracts that are written in a different time. How do you argue that labor negotiations should continue with organized labor if companies need to have that suppleness at a time of great change.
Yeah, So, what I would say is when you look at the contract that you saw on the West Coast Ports, for instance, which was a very successful contract for workers for all of the employers, it is a contract that resolves those issues and moves forward. And I expect the same is possible in the context of the collective bargaining prices that now has been extended into next year on
the basis of a really strong wage offer. You know, unions are more popular than they have been in decades, and I think the President the Vice President are demonstrating by their actions this is how we enable the collective bargaining process to work. And the collective bargaining process does reach fair wages for workers and also a set of other really important agreements about how workers should have voice
in the way the business is organized. All of those things are on the table, and we believe that we have just enabled that collective bargaining process to continue in a very productive way that's good for everyone. Most importantly getting the ports back open so we can get those supplies to areas affected by Hurricane Helene.
At Leasta is getting to a much broader philosophical point, though direct to Brandon, that perhaps we can finish on we are all vulnerable to automation. It is somewhat easier to be so pro union when union membership is so low. If it was a whole lot higher, would be far more disruptive. We'd all be complaining about being vulnerable to automation. How do you suggest that the American public should deal with the increase of use in AI and automation over
the next several years. Should we all just go on strike?
Yeah?
So, what's very interesting there is unions have actually worked with the organizations representing employers on AI provisions. One of the first contracts to directly address artificial intelligence was, of course, the Writer's Contract, a really great contract which had language that used AI as an enabler to enable writers to actually be productive, but the creative direction in the hands of humans. And of course I think those are the kinds of principles that we have supported here at the
White House. You know, we've released principles. It's just important for workers to be enabled, not displaced. It's important for workers to be sitting alongside businesses in making sure they work together on where AI should be used.
Much longer conversation for another time. We appreciate your time. I know you can't talk about the payrolls report. It's still to come. Director Brandon, thank you for your time.