U.S. ports from Maine to Texas are closed due to a strike by the union representing about 45,000 dockworkers.

As prolonged port closures across the U.S. continue to disrupt supply chains, grocery store aisles in Houston are being emptied by panicked shoppers scrambling to stock up on essential goods.

Dozens of workers outside the Bayboard Container Terminal in Seabrook holding signs saying “NO WORK WITHOUT A FAIR CONTRACT” and “ILA WORKERS OVER MACHINES; DEFEND OUR JOBS AND RIGHTS.”

A strike by the ILA workers would be the first by the union since 1977 and could have major impacts on the U.S. economy

With 45,000 dock workers across the country poised to walk off the job by the end of Monday, one owner of a trucking business in Houston is scrambling to find options to keep his job going.

About 45,000 dock workers are poised to walk off the job at midnight Tuesday if a deal is not reached between the union representing the workers and the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents the ports.

Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas have started walking picket lines 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.

Top Biden administration officials met with port operators ahead of a possible strike at East and Gulf coast ports, with a union contract set to expire late Monday.

With a strike deadline looming, the group representing East and Gulf Coast ports is asking a federal agency to make the Longshoremen’s union come to the bargaining table to negotiate a new contract.

A strike that is potentially just weeks away has the potential to have a weeks if not months-long impact on the U.S. economy.