Thousands of dock workers are on strike here in new Jersey and at ports along the East and Gulf Coast.

Members of the International Longshoremen Association hit the picket lines.

12:01 a.m. today, after the union and port ownership failed to reach an agreement on a new contract.

A battle that centered around workers requests for higher wages and limits on the use of automation.

The work stoppage affects 36 ports from New England to Texas, the first since 1977, bringing billions of dollars worth of trade to a screeching halt, threatening to cause significant damage to both the supply chain and the U.S. economy.

In an effort to avert the strike, the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents the ports, said they made another wage offer during 11th hour negotiations, but it was rejected by the Ila.

In a profanity laced video posted to social media, the union's controversial president, Harold Daggett , told dock workers in Newark last night the ports won't survive this strike for long.

Senior correspondent Joanna Guy was at the Port of Newark today where hundreds were on the picket line.

We're out here last night at 12:00.

You've been out here all day and night.

It's the day many were dreading.

Some 50,000 port workers along the east and Gulf Coast walked off the job at 1201 this morning.

We know their strike, the result of failed negotiations between the International Longshoremen's Association and their employer, the U.S. Maritime Association.

The Ala is fighting for respect, appreciation and fairness in a world in which corporations are dead set on replacing hard working people with automation.

The two key sticking points in the negotiation a nearly 77% wage increase requested by the Ila, a raise of $5 an hour every year for the next six years.

That would bring workers up from $39 an hour to 69 an hour by the end of the contract.

But the other point, the role of automation at the ports.

The union says plans by the Maritime Association are threatening their jobs.

Employees put push for automation and it's just it's under the guise of safety.

We know it's high profits for themselves.

We would like a little piece of that also.

We understand when technology might improve things, but to replace men or women in working force is just not acceptable.

It's not clear exactly what automation has been proposed at the ports, but Ila Union President Harold Daggett said in a recent interview that he doesn't want any of it.

These companies that work in the maritime business come from overseas, not where it belongs to America.

They want to come into America and build fully automated terminals and get rid of American jobs, good paying jobs that support families with medical pensions, annuities and pay taxes.

They want to get rid of them.

In a last ditch effort to avoid this strike.

The U.S. Maritime Association countered the wage offer late last night, offering a 50% increase over the six year period.

In a statement, they added their latest offer would triple employer contributions to employee retirement plans, strengthen our health care options and retain the current language around automation and semi automation.

But in a heated speech given to workers just after they hit the picket lines, Daggett made it clear what he thought of that offer, not in making billions and billions of dollars through pandemic, when all of us were working.

The who's the greedy one here?

These companies over in Europe, they don't give a damn about us.

We're going to show them.

They're going to have to give a fuck about us, because nothing's going to move without us.

Billions of dollars that equal some 43 to 49% of U.S. imports come through ports like this one here in Newark.

For now, goods are being rerouted.

But if this strike continues, it'll have a massive impact on both the U.S. and global economies.

It's the imports of a lot of consumer goods, you know, electronics and clothing and things that we get at the big box stores, but also a lot of products that we export.

So we're unable to get our our materials that are on the docks out and shipped out to the consumers overseas.

And that's going to cause backups here.

In a statement, the new Jersey Business and Industry Association said while we have a very healthy respect for the collective bargaining process, the fact of the matter is the stakes are too high for new Jersey and the rest of the nation to be subject to supply chain shortages, higher prices and delays in goods reaching households and businesses.

They're calling on the federal government to invoke the Taft-Hartley act, which would force workers back to their jobs if this dispute isn't resolved quickly.

At least for now, it doesn't seem likely the president will do that.

And here on the ground, the mood is resolute.

This union will not allow foreign owned companies to dictate how we operate on American soil.

Our union is going to support every single American job, and we're going to fight for fair wages.

And until we get our fair wages, our union won't give up.

The Ila will continue to fight until its members receive their fair contract they deserve.

We're prepared to be out of work until the strike is over.

The question is, how long will that be?

At the port in Newark, I'm Joanna Gagis, NJ Spotlight News.