Some 45,000 US dockworkers went on strike this week for the first time in 47 years, impacting, among others, ports in Baltimore and Brunswick, Georgia, the busiest for auto imports; Philadelphia, which mainly receives fruits and vegetables; and New Orleans, which handles coffee.
But toilet paper was definitely not on the list anywhere, with the sanitary item produced almost entirely in the United States.
"Just because the ports are closed, there is no need to buy and hoard all of the toilet paper. It’s made in the USA," commented a user on the X platform.
Toilet paper hoarding was common in the early days of the supply chain breakdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. For weeks then, social media was inundated with pictures of empty supermarket aisles where toilet paper and other sanitation and cleaning items are stored.
The port strike comes as the dockworkers’ union demands significantly higher wages and a total ban on the automation of cranes, gates and container-moving trucks that are used in the loading or unloading of freight at 36 US ports. Those ports handle roughly half of the nations’ cargo from ships.
President Joe Biden told reporters Thursday that he thought progress was being made in ending the strike, saying "we’ll find out soon."