Nearly 50,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) are on strike Tuesday against the nation’s East and Gulf Coast ports, according to the Associated Press, choking off the flow of many of the nation’s imports and exports in what could become America’s most disruptive work stoppage in decades.

The last ILA strike on the East Coast, in 1977, ended after 44 days. In 2002, President George W. Bush invoked the Taft-Hartley Act to halt a management lockout of West Coast port workers. Port operator Enstructure wrote last week they'd "continue to provide support services for our customers until regular operations resume."

Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association walked out for the first time since 1977 in a standoff over wages, benefits and job security.