ROCHESTER, N.Y. — 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.

Workers began walking picket lines early Tuesday, picketing near ports all along the East Coast.

However, not every port is part of the strike.

What You Need To Know

  • Ports up and down the East Coast are striking, but not two in upstate New York

  • The ports of Ogdensburg and Oswego are not part of the Atlantic, they are in the Great Lakes section of the International Longshoremen's Association and therefore not on strike

  • The Port of Oswego can manage cargo ships but not container ships

The International Longshoremen’s Association has three major port systems — Atlantic, Pacific and the Great Lakes.

Each port system negotiates its own contract separately from the others.

Only one of the three is on strike — and that’s the Atlantic.

The ports of Ogdensburg and Oswego are not part of the Atlantic. They are in the Great Lakes section, and therefore, not on strike.

Dock workers there on the job and the ports are ready, preparing and welcoming potential new business that could be created from the strike.

“We're basically a bulk port — grain export and other and aluminum,” said Port of Oswego Authority Executive Director and CEO William Scriber.

The Port of Oswego has its own contract with the International Longshoremen’s Association until 2028.

So dock workers there are not part of the massive strike halting the shipping industry from Boston to the Gulf of Mexico.

“Listening just to reports, and reading, I think this could go on for several weeks," Scriber said. "But it depends on really the carriers who are negotiating contract with the ILA."

He says while Oswego cannot accept containers, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway waterways are ideal options for shipping.

“We’re the first port on the system in the Great Lakes," Scriber said. "So, it's an easy run through the locks to us and then turn around, go right back out. Where it takes days and, really, honestly, more money to go through the other lock systems and the other four lakes, we're basically your first off ramp or first on ramp. It's easier, cheaper and quicker. So that's why we would be probably looked at as an alternative. There are ships wanting to come in and deliver cargo [that] they couldn't in Baltimore, in New York.”

Scriber says the pressure is on because the strike is coming as the holidays loom.

“I wouldn't expect this to go on too long," Scriber said. "But if it does, all those projects and items that they can't put in Baltimore, New York – Oswego [is] here. [We are] ready. We're open for business. And we want your business."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.