Tuesday morning more than 45,000 Union Longshoremen hit the picket lines at ports from Maine to Texas after contract negotiations for a pay raise and protection from automation fell flat.
Economists said the strike could cost hundreds of millions of dollars a day, and delay shipments from everything from cars, furniture, and pharmaceuticals. It could also raise the cost for businesses and consumers.
“There’s a lot of people that would tell you for everyone one day of strike, it takes about a week to clean it up, so the impact just depends on how long it takes,” said Chad Gerfers, vice president of sales and marketing for Lone Star Transportation…