Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas have started walking picket lines in a strike over wages and automation that could reignite inflation and cause shortages of goods if it goes on more than a few weeks.

While any port can handle any type of goods, some ports are specialized to handle goods for a particular industry.

New Yorkers may see shortages and higher retail prices when they start their holiday shopping as the first large-scale stoppage in almost 50 years started affecting ports from Maine to Texas Tuesday.

Around 45,000 dockworkers along the East Coast are on strike as of Tuesday, closing around 36 ports from Maine to Texas. The International Longshoremen's Association is asking for companies to pay workers higher wages,