How will the ILA port strike affect East Tennesseans? [Video]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Around 45,000 dockworkers along the East Coast are on strike as of Tuesday, closing around 36 ports from Maine to Texas. 

The International Longshoremen’s Association is asking for companies to pay workers higher wages, improve their benefits and to guarantee that the company would not replace them with automation or advanced technology at job sites.

Donald Maier, a University of Tennessee associate professor of supply chain management, said the job protections may be an even bigger concern than wages.

“That’s a bigger sticking point in addition to the wages,” Maier said. “If you look at the type of technology they’re considering implementing in the ports and then at the terminals, the ILA workers are considering a negotiation to prevent the loss of jobs.”

He said while the ports are closed, people in East …