Dockworkers Strike Begins at East Coast, Gulf Ports Marking the First Shutdown in Nearly 50 Years

Over 45,000 union dockworkers, all members of the largest union representing maritime workers in North America, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), went on strike early Tuesday after their contract expired. The central issue is the higher pay that the workers are asking for, as well as protection from the automation threat posed by AI .

The union is asking pay to increase by $5 per year over the next six years, bringing starting salaries up to $50 to $69 per hour by 2030 from the $20 to $39 per hour they were in the prior contract. Overtime hours and extra shifts pushed the majority of salaries for longshoremen working in New York Harbor up to $150,000 per year or more in 2020.

^{Container ship at East Coast ports. Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images}

The strike impacts about half of all U.S. sea imports or those from Maine to Texas . It's the first on the East Coast since 1977.

How Will the Port Strike Affect Consumers?

JP Morgan analysts told the Wall Street Journal that the port strike's impact on the economy is between $3.8 billion and $4.5 billion per day.

This means the price of groceries and other goods could go up — the seaports are the major channels through which goods like food, furniture, clothes, car parts, and pharmaceutical products, reach consumers.

A longer strike could mean delays in shipping right before the holidays, plus higher costs for gifts. Businesses and consumers could both feel the effects .

Related: Hollywood Writers Reach Tentative Agreement to End Strike—But Is the Actors' Union Still Holding Out?