Port workers from Maine to Texas are set to strike Tuesday. Expect shortages and higher prices

Longshore workers at ports from Maine to Texas are set to walk off the job early Tuesday, staging what could become the most disruptive strike to the US economy in decades.

Longshore workers at ports from Maine to Texas are set to walk off the job early Tuesday, staging what could become the most disruptive strike to the US economy in decades. The strike could stop the flow of a wide variety of goods over the docks of almost all the cargo ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast - everything from bananas to European wine and liquor, along with clothing, toys, household goods and European autos. Also affected could be parts needed to keep US factories operating and American workers in those plants on the job. On one side of negotiations is the US Maritime Association, which uses the acronym USMX. It represents the major shipping lines, all of which are foreign-owned, as well as terminal operators and port authorities. It is facing a strike threat by the International Longshoremen’s Association, which represents 85,000 members overall. While the union says there about 50,000 members covered by the contract, the USMX puts the number of jobs at the ports closer to 25,000, with not enough jobs for all the workers in the union to work every day. But if those union members walk out, as is widely expected, the strike will shut down three dozen locations at 14 port authorities along the East Coast and Gulf Coast. Depending on duration, a strike could mean shortages of consumer and industrial goods, possibly driving up prices again. And that could hit an economy that is finally recovering from a pandemic-induced inflation spike.