Dockworkers on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast began a strike early on Tuesday, their first large-scale stoppage in nearly 50 years.

Tens of thousands of workers at major ports on the US East and Gulf Coasts went on strike Tuesday in an action that could drag down the world's largest economy just over a month before the presidential election.

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.

Tens of thousands of dockworkers went on strike from Savannah to Maine on Tuesday to demand higher wages and a ban on all automation.

U.S. ports from Maine to Texas shut down Tuesday when the union representing about 45,000 dockworkers went on strike for the first time since 1977. A lengthy shutdown could raise prices on goods around the country and potentially cause shortages and price increases at big and small retailers alike as the holiday shopping season —