When midnight on Tuesday struck, the workers struck.
The longshoremen, who load and unload ships, started to chant.
"What're we gonna do?"
"Shut 'em down."
"How much money do we want?"
"All of it!"
The scenes at the Port of Baltimore's Dundalk Marine Terminal and Seagirt Marine Terminal were part of a nationwide longshoremen strike, demanding higher wages and a ban on automating cranes, gates and trucks.
Military cargo ships and cruise ships weren't affected by the strike because the longshoremen's union — the International Longshoremen’s Association — excluded them from the strike.
"Who are we?" a union organizer asked the assembled strikers.
"ILA," the strikers responded.
A group of around 60 strikers assembled at the Dundalk Marine Terminal's gates on the dot at midnight, though the group seemed to have thinned out to around half that by 3 a.m.
Union officials refused to speak to the press and cut off longshoremen who attempted to.
One longshoreman started to explain the pay disparities between those at the bottom of the seniority ladder and those at the top, commenting that the "mass media" misrepresented the workers' pay, before a union organizer shooed him away.
"Walk," the union official commanded the longshoreman.
And so the longshoreman marched with the other strikers in a circle, round and round and round.
Workers want a 77% pay rise over six years to offset inflation, the Associated Press reported.
The U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents 36 ports from Maine to Texas, has offered a 50% pay rise over the six-year contract, triple employer contributions to retirement plans and pledged to keep the current contract language that limits automation, according to the Associated Press.
Robin Miles, wearing a pink vest and gold hoop earrings, said workers like her are demanding nothing more than a wage increase to account for inflation.
"Inflation is going up," she said, "and we work around a lot of dangerous equipment, no guarantee we’ll come home safe.”
The International Longshoremen’s Association, which has nicknamed itself the "I Love America" union, frames the strike as a fight between American workers and billion-dollar foreign corporations.
“The ocean carriers represented by USMX want to enjoy rich billion-dollar profits that they are making in 2024, while they offer ILA Longshore Workers an unacceptable wage package that we reject," it said in a press release. “ILA longshore workers deserve to be compensated for the important work they do keeping American commerce moving and growing."
Companies like ABB, which build the automated equipment, say automation will reduce costs. The union says that's a false promise, and points to automation at plants that manufacture cars.
"Did it cut costs of an automobile?" Jack Pennington, the president of International Longshoremen’s Association Local 24 in Pasadena, Texas, asked in a Facebook post. "The answer is an Easy NO!"
At the Dundalk port, a few Maryland Transportation Authority police officers looked on while the longshoremen struck.
The officers emphasized they were only there to make sure cargo could flow in and out of the port and to keep the peace.
That went off without a hitch — the strikers made room for the handful of trucks that did go in and out of the port, and several truck drivers honked their horns in support of the workers.
Ironically enough, a digital sign at the port flashed "Happy National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. Thank you."
At the massive Tradepoint Atlantic port, meanwhile, there were no signs of the longshoremen strike early on Tuesday. One security guard hadn't heard of the strike, another told a reporter to go to the West Gate, which was deserted save a security guard, and another security guard dozed off at their post.
No one knew exactly what the union's plans were. A guard at the security office pointed out a cordoned off strike area at the West Gate, set up for whenever the longshoremen decided to strike there.
A group of about 10 strikers were onsite by Tuesday evening, mostly standing around.
"No media," an organizer yelled out as the Eagle approached. By 5:20 p.m., the small group had left.
The International Longshoremen’s Association says it will strike until its demands are met — however long that will take.
A slogan on several longshoremen's shirts seemed to sum the mood up perfectly.
"If it’s a fight they want," it warned, "it’s a war they’re gonna get."
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