Thousands of dockworkers across the East and Gulf Coasts went on strike Tuesday, disrupting commerce at some of the country’s busiest ports and injecting new uncertainty into the U.S. economy just weeks before the presidential election.

Workers in Philadelphia and elsewhere hit the picket line around midnight when their contract with ocean carriers and port operators expired, marking the International Longshoremen’s Association’s first strike since 1977.

The shipping industry has been preparing for a potential work stoppage for months. Analysts say consumers could see higher prices and shortages of some retail goods if the strike isn’t resolved quickly. Contract talks have focused on wages and automation.

“Nothing’s going to move without us — nothing,” Harold J. Daggett, the president of the union, said in an address to members early Tuesday morning. “We’re going to win this … thing... and we’re going to get what we deserve.”

The U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents employers at 36 ports, said Monday evening that both sides had moved off of their previous wage offers. Yet no deal was reached, leading to workers walking off the job. The union had been seeking a 77% pay increase over six years and rejected a last-minute offer to increase wages 50%, according to a statement from the Maritime Alliance. The workers also had concerns about the use of new technology to automate some work at the ports.

The union has pledged to continue to handle military cargo during their strike, and passenger cruise ships will be unaffected by their action.

“We understand that many families plan and pay for cruises vacations on passenger ships more than a year out, and we don’t want them to be disappointed or inconvenienced in any way,” Daggett said in a statement.

How a strike impacts the Port of Philadelphia

As of Tuesday morning, ILA members were picketing outside all three facilities where they work in Philadelphia — the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal and Pier 80 in South Philadelphia, as well as the Tioga Marine Terminal near the Betsy Ross Bridge, according to a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PhilaPort), the state agency that owns the properties. PhilaPort leases the facilities to private operators.

A few dozen workers were picketing outside the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia on Tuesday morning, holding signs that said “Fight Automation, Save Jobs” and “ILA Workers Over Machines.” Across the street, a truck with a digital billboard blasted “corporate greed” and declared “machines don’t feed families.”

Workers on the picket line declined to be interviewed, saying they weren’t authorized to speak with the news media. Boise Butler, president of ILA Local 1291, told the Associated Press that workers want a fair contract that doesn’t allow automation of their jobs.

Shipping companies made billions during the pandemic by charging high prices, he said. “Now we want them to pay back. They’re going to pay back,” Butler said.

He said the union would strike for as long as it needs to get a fair deal, and it has leverage over the companies.

“This is not something that you start and you stop,” he said. “We’re not weak,” he added, pointing to the union’s importance to the nation’s economy.

Ryan Mulvey, a spokesperson for PhilaPort, said the Packer Avenue terminal — which handles cargoes such as fruit, frozen meat, steel products, and paper — “will not work or deliver containers until the strike is resolved.” Tioga will also be shut down, he said, though that facility isn’t expecting any new ships until at least through the end of the week.

As of 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, a couple container ships had anchored outside Packer Avenue, “waiting to see the situation before heading to the berth,” Mulvey said, and another ship carrying automobiles is expected to dock there Wednesday.

A ship hauling paper is due at Pier 80 on Friday, Mulvey said. Some workers at that facility are represented by the Teamsters union. In general, he said, ILA workers unload the ships and handle the work inside the warehouse, while the Teamsters staff the adjacent buildings at Pier 74 South, 78 Annex, and Pier 82.

ILA members were also picketing Tuesday at the Balzano and Broadway terminals in Camden. Those facilities are owned and operated by the South Jersey Port Corp., a state-created entity. The port corporation doesn’t directly employ ILA workers, “but they service vessels at our ports on behalf of our stevedore,” said Jonathan Atwood, SJPC’s chief of staff. “We are effectively shut down. We cannot discharge any vessels without the ILA acting as stevedores.”

There won’t be a total shutdown of port activity in the Philadelphia area, however, as some facilities are operated by companies that employ workers represented by different unions.

Penn Terminals, which owns and operates the Port of Chester, employs members of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers. John P. DiDomenicis III, owner of trucking firm Tri State Intermodal, said more cargoes that would typically move through Packer Avenue are now being routed through Penn Terminals.

John Brennan, Penn Terminals’ president, said last week that his company would be “open for business as usual.”

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