29 January 2016, 21:05 GMT
NEW YORK (Sputnik) – "As the agency that oversees the largest port complex on the East Coast, we strongly urge the ILA [International Longshoremen’s Association] members to return to work immediately and resolve their differences after they return. In the meantime, Port Authority Police are actively working to ensure public safety for all of the stakeholders at the port," the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) said in a Friday statement.
According to PANYNJ, all of its terminals were affected by the labor walk off.
"Due to the current work stoppage in the port, no new trucks will be allowed to queue on port roadways," PANYNJ said in a Friday alert, adding that "all efforts to resume activity will be undertaken."
A representative of ILA, which is a port workers’ union, told WINS, a local radio station, that the walk off was organized in protest against unfair hiring practices.
The Port of New York and New Jersey is the gateway to one of the most concentrated and affluent consumer markets in the world. It is the largest port on the US East Coast, and the third-largest in the nation, according to its website.
