Dockworkers at dozens of U.S. ports are digging in for a massive pay increase, seeking to flex their power in a strike that aims to strangle the flow of trade across much of the country.“This is going down in history what we’re doing here,

Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas began walking picket lines early Tuesday 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.

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.