Dockworkers at major ports along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts went on strike Tuesday after last-minute negotiations yielded no new labor contract, a stoppage expected to drag on the world's largest economy.
The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) said the walkout by its workers marks the first "coast wide strike in almost 50 years".
"We are prepared to fight as long as necessary, to stay out on strike for whatever period of time it takes, to get the wages and protections against automation our ILA members deserve," Harold Daggett, who heads the 85,000-member union, said in a statement.
The ILA said it had "shut down all ports from Maine to Texas at 12:01 am on Tuesday" after it rejected a final proposal from the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) shipping group.
"USMX brought on this strike when they decided to hold firm to foreign-owned Ocean Carriers earning billion-dollar profits" without compensating "workers who perform the labor that brings them their wealth," Daggett said.
USMX did not respond to a request for comment.
ILA members began walking the picket lines at 14 major ports on the East and Gulf coasts soon after the announcement.
In Boston, dockworkers marched to the port carrying signs that read "no work without a fair contract," videos shared on social media showed.
CNN broadcast similar images from Philadelphia, while a New York Times video showed Daggett addressing workers on the picket lines.
"We are making history," he said in New Jersey, as dockworkers held signs saying, "Profit over people is unacceptable."
A possible stoppage had been telegraphed for months, with the odds rising in recent weeks as the two sides described themselves as far apart.