Port Workers Strike on East and Gulf Coasts

For the first time in nearly 50 years, longshoremen on the East and Gulf coasts went on strike Tuesday, a move that will cut off most trade through some of the busiest U.S. ports and could send a chill through the economy.

“Nothing’s going to move without us — nothing,” said Harold J. Daggett, the president of the International Longshoremen’s Association union, addressing picketers outside a port terminal in Elizabeth, New Jersey, early Tuesday.

The United States Maritime Alliance...