After more than a thousand dockworkers staged a strike on Friday and closed traffic at the Port of New York and New Jersey cargo terminals, the operations were scheduled to restart yesterday, the port said.
The walkout lasted several hours and affected overseas shipments at ports in New York City, Elizabeth, Newark and Jersey City. Additionally, the terminals were closed to incoming trucks.
The Port Authority, which oversees the largest port complex in the US East Coast, urged the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) members to “return to work immediately and resolve their differences after they return.”
In a statement issued on January 29, the leadership of ILA, AFL-CIO also asked all ILA members in the port to accept orders and return to work adding that they have taken action on their behalf.
The reasons behind the strikes are not yet clear, but could be the lengthy dispute between the longshoremen and the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, which attempted to resolve the issue of the Waterfront Commission’s interference with both management and labor.
Reuters cited an official saying that the stoppage came as a surprise because the authority was not aware of any major issues which would lead to this situation.
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