Republicans say they favor cutting regulations to spur growth and create jobs. And they generally favor expanding international trade. They can attain those goals by reforming labor union laws.

America’s West Coast seaports are getting hammered by aggressive unionism. The damage spreads out across the economy during labor disputes, affecting billions of dollars worth of trade. It’s an economically absurd situation, and it’s hugely unfair to the millions of workers whose jobs depend on trade. It should not be happening in America in the 21th century.

In her official response to President Obama’s SOTU, new GOP senator Joni Ernst (Iowa) said, “Let’s tear down trade barriers in places like Europe and the Pacific. Let’s sell more of what we make and grow in America over there so we can boost manufacturing, wages, and jobs right here, at home.”

She’s right, and she should use her prestige and tough-gal credentials to push for change. In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher broke the militant unions in Britain and she privatized most of that nation’s seaports. Senator Ernst has an opportunity to push for the same reforms here. 

The key to union reform is repealing the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, also called the Wagner Act. That act imposed “collective bargaining,” which is a euphemism for monopoly unionism. Monopoly unionism is incompatible with individual rights and it encourages unions to disrupt workplaces. The private-sector unionization rate is down to just 7 percent in the United States, but where it persists it causes major damage.

That brings us to the West Coast seaports. The Wall Street Journal reports:

The labor dispute that has magnified snarls at U.S. West Coast ports may be on the brink of a settlement, but it will take months to end the widespread pain, freight disruptions, and losses caused by the massive cargo traffic jam.

The near-paralysis at the ports is rippling through the economy. Railroads are reducing service to the West Coast. Cargo ships have slowed down—and even turned around—as containers have stacked up at the ports. And an official of a meat-industry trade group said last week that port gridlock was costing meat and poultry companies more than $30 million a week.

… Neely Mallory III, president of Mallory Alexander International Logistics in Memphis … is having trouble getting railroads to take loads west from Memphis, Dallas or Chicago, because they are reducing service to the ports until the congestion clears. He can’t arrange to export more than 10,500 containers of cotton. Last Friday, a ship due in with imports for his customers gave up, he said. It will avoid the U.S. for 30 days. “It’s devastating,” he added.

Manufacturers also are feeling the pain. The National Association of Manufacturers has heard from members that container shipments through the West Coast ports in recent months have become “incredibly erratic,” said Robyn Boerstling, director of transportation and infrastructure policy for the trade group. “Everyone is feeling extremely uneasy and frustrated,” she said. Companies fear that if they can’t deliver on orders it will be very hard to win business back, she said.

NAM said a small U.S. maker of pulp and paper told it that the company had lost about $1 million of pulp exports to China in the past few months because it couldn’t meet shipment deadlines or customers feared it might not deliver on time. FastenalCo., a distributor of industrial and construction supplies based in Winona, Minn., said some deliveries of screws, nails and other fasteners from Asia are delayed by a week or two, forcing it and some customers to hold larger inventories.

For more on the West Coast seaports, see here.