By MARC SANTORAJAN. 29, 2016
Thousands of longshoremen in New York and New Jersey walked off the job on Friday, grinding activity at some of the busiest ports on the East Coast to a halt and threatening to disrupt the delivery of goods across the region.
The walkout surprised many involved in the operation of the ports, according to officials, and the reasons behind the move were not immediately clear.
News of the work stoppage came in an alert issued by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which acts as a landlord for the ports but does not control daily operations.
“Due to the current work stoppage in the port, no new trucks will be allowed to queue on port roadways,” the alert said. “Do not send trucks to the Port at this time.”
Officials with the New York Shipping Association, which runs the ports, could not immediately be reached for comment.
A spokeswoman for the association who spoke to Bloomberg News said the group was “trying to understand the reason for what appears to be a walkout and will take every measure available to ensure work resumes.”
The International Longshoremen’s Association, the union representing port workers, also could not be reached for comment, but a representative of the union told a local radio station that the dispute centered on hiring practices.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/nyregion/new-york-area-ports-longshoremen.html?_r=0
