NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP/KADN) – Dockworkers at ports in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and other major ports from Texas to the U.S. East Coast began walking picket lines early Tuesday in a strike over wages and automation that could reignite inflation and cause shortages of goods if it goes on more than a few weeks.
The contract between the ports and about 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association expired at midnight, and even though progress was reported in talks on Monday, the workers went on strike. The strike affecting 36 ports is the first by the union since 1977.
The Port of New Orleans has long been a hub for cargo imports, but now, “cargo that will be coming in from overseas will not be loaded, and cargo going out will not be loaded on containers,” said Louisiana’s Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain…