Longshoremen strike at ports in New York and New Jersey

More than 1,000 longshoremen suddenly walked off their jobs Friday morning, bringing all ports in NY and New Jersey to a halt, according to Port Authority officials. “Due to the current work stoppage in the port, no new trucks will be allowed to queue on port roadways”, Port Authority officials said.

The Port Authority of NY and New Jersey is the ports’ operator.

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The Port Authority functions as a “landlord” and is responsible for port planning and coordination.

It sent an email saying, “We strongly urge the ILA members to return to work immediately and resolve their differences after they return”.

One problem with the strike: the Port Authority, which operates the port, says it isn’t sure why workers decided not to show up. A spokeswoman told Bloomberg that the organization was “trying to understand the reason for what appears to be a walkout and will take every measure available to ensure work resumes”.

The walkout affects several terminals, including Port Newark and terminals in Elizabeth, New Jersey; Bayonne, New Jersey; and the New York City borough of Staten Island.

But the union has bumped heads with the Waterfront Commission in recent years over the agency’s vetting of potential new hires.

The International Longshoremen’s Association did not immediately return a request for comment.

“They see the commission as a threat to to their livelihood, making life miserable for longshoremen”, McNamara told NJ.com.

However, ILA spokesperson Jim McNamara explained to the newspaper that there is some unrest among workers over what they deem to be interference by the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor in their existing collective bargaining agreement.