Some of the busiest ports in the US were prepared for crippling disruption after about 45,000 longshoremen represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) began walking off the job after their contracts expired at midnight.
Talks on a new union contract between the ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) broke down on Monday and workers were expected to begin a strike at 12:01 a.m. ET on Tuesday, affecting 36 ports along the East and Gulf coasts.
Workers began picketing at the Port of Philadelphia shortly after midnight, the Associated Press reported. They walked in a circle at a railway crossing outside the port and chanted: ‘No work without a fair contract.’ The Port of Virginia also confirmed the work stoppage.
Related: A strike looms at America’s busiest ports as 45,000 workers prepare to quit their jobs
The strike – the first strike by dock workers on the US East Coast since 1977 – threatens to close ports from Maine to Texas, crippling supply chains and putting pressure on the US economy.
Negotiators on both sides of the table have accused the other of refusing to negotiate. The ILA has argued that USMX, which represents 40 ocean terminals and port operators, made “low-priced” pay raise offers for employees and accused the company of breaching its previous contract by introducing automation at several U.S. ports.
It is estimated that the strike will cost the economy as much as $5 billion a day. The union has said it will still handle military cargo, and passenger cruise ships will be unaffected.
USMX filed an unfair labor practice charge against the union with the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, alleging the union refused to bargain. Before the strike on Monday, USMX said it and the union had exchanged new offers on wages. The union responded by claiming the accusation was a “publicity stunt.”
Current wages under the contract that expired Monday range from $20 an hour to the top wage of $39 an hour. The union is seeking a 77% wage increase over the six-year contract, to a top rate of $69 per hour by 2030.
The Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the US, issued a statement in support of the union ahead of the strike.
“Let’s be clear: employers, not employees, shirked responsibility and left labor negotiations until the eleventh hour, when the damage to the public and the national supply chain would be most damaging,” said Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger . chairman and secretary-treasurer of TTD. “While USMX tries to place the blame on the frontline workers who keep our supply chain moving, they are to blame.”
The White House is monitoring the rift between the union and USMX and is urging both sides to reach an agreement. The AFL-CIO has urged Republicans in the House of Representatives not to interfere with imposing an injunction to block the strike. Joe Biden said ahead of the strike that he had no intention of intervening to block it.
