NEW YORK & NEW JERSEY - Thousands of longshoremen have just walked off the job in New York and New Jersey, bringing all activity at the ports to a close and disrupting all deliveries of goods out of the region.

“Due to the current work stoppage in the port, no new trucks will be allowed to queue on port roadways,” the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced on its website at 8:14 AM EST this morning. “Do not send trucks to the Port at this time.”

According to a press release from Advance Customs Brokers & Consulting LLC, the following terminals were affected as of 1:05 PM EST:

• Port Newark
• GCT Terminal
• Maher Terminal 
• APM Terminal
• Red Hook Terminal

"As the agency that oversees the largest port complex on the East Coast, we strongly urge the ILA [International Longshoreman’s Association] members to return to work immediately and resolve their differences after they return,” said the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in a written statement this morning. “In the meantime, Port Authority Police are actively working to ensure public safety for all of the stakeholders at the port." 

Director of Public Relations for the ILA, Jim McNamara, spoke with 1010 WINS radio news this morning, according to the New York Times, explaining that the issue stems from hiring disputes with the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor.

“The ILA and the New York Shipping Association—our employers, it’s not just the workers, but also the owners of the companies that generate the jobs and generates money for the economy—both sides have been fighting the Waterfront Commission, especially in the last five years, over the right to bring new workers on, the right to operate their ports the way they think they should be operated,” McNamara said during the interview. “They’ve had enough, they told me they’re taking this action to demonstrate their displeasure.”

As of the time of writing this, roadways near the area of the port are backed up with trucks, and containers are stacking up. As of 2014, according to the New York Times, the Port of New York and New Jersey were responsible for 3,342,286 cargo containers which held over $200 billion in goods.

If the walkoff continues to hold up shipping for an extended period of time, its effects could be felt along the East Coast and beyond. For more on this story as it develops, keep checking in with AndNowUKnow.

Advance Customs Brokers & Consulting Port Authority of New York and New Jersey