On Friday, more 4,000 longshoremen walked off the job shutting down piers and container terminals in New York and New Jersey. By Saturday, the most longshoreman had returned to work. Strangely, no one seems to know why the wildcat strike took place.

As reported by NJ.com: “We do know it’s an illegal walk-off,” said Phoebe Sorial, general counsel for the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor. “We did not hear about it beforehand and we don’t know why it’s happening.”  

The New York Shipping Association, which represents the terminal operators, ocean carriers, and stevedores, was also in the dark. “I can tell you we don’t know why they walked off,” said spokeswoman Beverly Fedorko. “It came as a surprise to everyone. We’re trying to ascertain just what is going on.”

And even the ILA was uncertain about that sparked the wildcat strike. Union spokesman Jim McNamara said there is some anger by the rank-and-file over what they see as interference by the waterfront commission in their collective bargaining agreement, but added that he was also still looking into the matter.

“They see the commission as a threat to their livelihood, making life miserable for longshoremen,” McNamara said. “They have gone way beyond their role of licensing to break down the gains of the ILA.”

At the APM Terminal in New Jersey, a large group of dockworkers gathered outside the gates of the shipping company, but none would talk about why they had walked off the job at Port Elizabeth.