Long lines of container ships queued up outside major U.S. ports on Thursday as the biggest dockworker strike in nearly half a century entered its third day preventing unloading and threatening shortages of everything from bananas to auto parts.

The strike by the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) union has blocked goods from food to automobile shipments across dozens of ports from Maine to Texas, a disruption that analysts warn will cost the economy billions of dollars a day.

President Joe Biden and his administration have signaled to both sides in the high-stakes dockworkers strike that they need to work things out “fairly and quickly,” the White House said in a statement Tuesday.

As the strike keeps East Coast and Gulf Coast ports closed for a second day, the Biden administration increased pressure on port employers to reach a deal with the ILA.

By Doyinsola Oladipo and David ShepardsonNEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A strike by 45,000 dockworkers halting shipments at U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports entered its second day on Wednesday with no negotiations currently scheduled between the two sides,

International Longshoremen’s Association chief negotiator Harold Dagget said a shut down has the power to cripple the U.S. economy