Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas have started walking picket lines in a strike over wages and automation that could reignite inflation and cause shortages of goods if it goes on more than a fe

For the first time since 1977, 36 ports stretching from strategic seaboard locations as far north as Maine and as far south as Texas – all of which handle an aggregate $3 trillion in the country’s annual international trade – will be idle due to a work stoppage.

Tens of thousands of dockworkers from ports spanning Maine to Texas walked off the job early Tuesday as they went on strike, demanding better wages and protections against automation. The strike comes as the contract between the International Longshoremen's Association union and U.