Nearly 50,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) are on strike Tuesday against the nation’s East and Gulf Coast ports, choking off the flow of many of America’s imports and exports in what could become the country’s most disruptive work stoppage in decades.

The International Longshoremen's Association walked off the job Tuesday after their contract expired. The strike could disrupt the supply chain

The union representing thousands of dockworkers from Maine to Texas launched a strike over wages and the use of automation, shutting down major seaports.

Dockworkers walked out of every major port on the US East and Gulf coasts for the first time in nearly 50 years, staging a strike that could ripple across the world’s largest economy and cause political turmoil just weeks before the presidential election.

Tens of thousands of longshoremen went on strike at midnight ET, shutting down major ports along the East and Gulf coasts and choking off deliveries of everything from produce to auto parts.Consumers aren’t likely to feel the pinch unless a walkout lasts for multiple weeks,

Thousands of union dockworkers walked off the job Tuesday morning, shutting down dozens of ports. WSJ reporter Paul Berger explains why workers are striking and what it means for the U.S. economy.