About 45,000 workers begin strike at US ports after breakdown in union talks

Strike – first by port workers on US east coast since 1977 – threatens to shut down ports from Maine to Texas

Some of the busiest ports in the US were braced for crippling disruption after about 45,000 port workers represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) began walking off the job after their contracts expired at midnight.

Workers began striking at 12.01am ET on Tuesday, with 36 ports along the east and Gulf coasts affected. They typically handle about half of the nation’s ocean shipping.

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