Thousands of truck-sized 30-ton shipping containers are stacked aboard the Hanjin Oslo freighter in the Port of Los Angeles March 29, 2002 in Los Angeles, California. About 45,000 members of the International Longshoreman Association went on strike Tuesday, seeking more pay and bans on automation. (File/David McNew/Getty Images)
This story originally appeared on South Carolina Daily Gazette .
CHARLESTON — After failing to reach a final-hour agreement, some 45,000 members of the International Longshoreman Association walked off the job Tuesday, shutting down 36 seaports from Maine to Texas, including in Charleston.
Union members set up picket lines at three S.C. State Ports Authority shipping terminals just after midnight, according to Charles Brave, president of International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1422.
The strike marks the first in almost 50 years for the East Coast union workers who load and unload cargo from container ships. Eastern ports handle more than half of the United States’ annual cargo trade.