Hope you've stocked up: At midnight, the longshoremen of the East Coast and Gulf officially went on strike. From Maine to Texas, our ports are about to deal with some wild backlogs.
The union that represents these dockworkers, the International Longshoremen's Association, is demanding a 77 percent increase in pay over the next six years—up from their current rate of $39 per hour—and assurances that bosses won't seek to automate their jobs away. (Given that their compatriots on the West Coast secured a 32 percent pay raise last year, it's possible they'll settle for a fair bit less than 77 percent.)
