Baltimore grocer says port workers' strike is disrupting his food supply

BALTIMORE -- The longshoremen's strike at 14 ports between Maine and Texas, including the Port of Baltimore, is causing disruptions to food supply for grocers relying on products from overseas.

Kosta Boyoukas, the owner of Maryland-based Prima Foods, attempted to get a shipment of food before the 25,000+ port workers went on strike, but the supplies didn't arrive in time.

With the work stoppage, his supplies are static outside of a port in Norfolk, Virginia.

Boyoukas, who gets the majority of his goods imported from Greece, is waiting on two containers filled with olive oil, olives, cheese and frozen food. There's no timeline for when the shipment will reach land.

"Now they're sitting there and we have more coming behind those," Boyoukas said. "We don't know what's going to happen to the first ones."

Experts say that an extended strike could cost the economy up to $5 billion per day and eventually trickle down to small business owners.

"The longer they sit, the more money we lose, because we're not going to have products to sell," Boyoukas said. 

Ships remain anchored

Cargo operations remain at a standstill as thousands of International Longshoremen's Association dockworkers walk on the picket line fighting for higher pay and protection from automation.

Ships remain anchored outside of ports, including the Port of Baltimore.

According to Ports America, no ships are scheduled to come into the Port of Baltimore in the next few days. The next scheduled docking is later this week if workers are back on the job. 

"We stand with you"

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Sen. Chris Van Hollen are calling for a resolution as they walked with port workers at the Port of Baltimore on Wednesday.

"It's about respect," Moore said. "It's about understanding who is the backbone of so much of our state's economy. It's about workers. It's about you."

"We stand with you in solidarity, as long as it takes for you to get a fair deal," Van Hollen said.