Unifor union members went on strike on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence Seaway, but the U.S. economy is already starting to feel the impacts after only a couple of days.

Cargo ships are basically stuck on the water, with products not coming in or going out.

It’s becoming a talking point around the Great Lakes, and having a massive impact on New York state.

“Anchors up. We're underway here and you’re listening to Downtown Discussions with the Ship Watcher. I'm your host, Mike Folsom,” Folsom said, introducing his podcast.

As part of the Seaway Ship Watchers Network, it has 80,000 followers and a new podcast Downbound Discussions.

“Here we have a choke hold on one of the vital arteries in North America, from the Atlantic Ocean to the upper Great Lakes,” Folsom said of the Seaway Strike.

Folsom has become one of the premier voices regarding the St. Lawrence Seaway.

"We want to be able to use our voice as much as possible and share what the seaway means not only to people in the region, but expose others to it as well," he said.

His next podcast will likely be his most important, and that's because about 360 seaway workers north of the border walked off the job this weekend, shutting down the entire seaway on both sides of the border.

“Ports like Ogdensburg and Oswego, now, they are shut down practically, due to this strike,” he said into the microphone.

Folsom was not exaggerating.

“It is a little depressing. I'm used to a vibrant port with a lot of people running around us, doing a lot of things. Ships coming, ships going. And right now, this is kind of like surreal. This is like the Twilight Zone,” Port of Oswego Executive Director William Scriber said.

The Port of Oswego has no ships coming or going due to the strike.

“We don't have ships coming in and grain going out and aluminum coming in. We don't have longshoreman on the docks in our warehouse operating,” Scriber said of the jobs that they bring on as ships arrive.

There’s some 30-plus ships stranded with no place to go on the St Lawrence, costing those ships tens of thousands of dollars a day. Aluminum is not coming in for local companies and grain that farmers sell internationally is starting to fill up in silos because there's no ships to put them on.

“Everything's on pause,” Scriber said.

In all, it's about $514 million of annual economic impact and 1,100-plus jobs currently at a standstill. And that's just here at the Port of Oswego. There's also the Port of Buffalo and the Port of Ogdensburg to consider.

“The St. Lawrence Seaway, or the Great Lakes region, would be the number three largest economy in the world,” Scriber said of the shipping cargo and related impact that comes through.

That leads to a question that a lot of people, including Folsom, are asking.

Should the U.S. and Canadian governments step in?

Folsom says it’s not so black and white.

“They have the right to strike. Government should stay as hands off as possible, I think, in most situations, and allow the two parties to come to an agreement on their own. But there is question, you know, 'what is essential?'” he asked.

Folsom believes there is at least an argument to be made that they are.

The Novelis Corporation in Oswego, which produces aluminum-made products and is the world’s largest aluminum recycler, says the strike is having a minimal impact, as it has alternatives in place that include rail and trucking.