Houston-area longshoremen along with thousands of other workers announced an end to their strike Thursday while they broker a new contract with port operators and distributors, ending a three-day work stoppage that threatened to send shock waves through the economy.

Workers began walking picket lines early Tuesday in a strike over wages and automation, even though some progress had been reported in latest contract talks. The contract between the ports and about 45,

The affected ports handle roughly 43 percent of U.S. imports according to ITS Logistics, a supply chain and logistics company. In Houston, a prolonged strike could mean that the Bayport and Barbours Cut Gate container terminals would be closed indefinitely, freezing trade until the ILA and USMX come to an agreement.

Experts expect dockworkers at the Port of Houston to go on strike Tuesday at ports from Maine to Brownsville, including the Port of Houston. "It's happening," said Margaret Kidd, program director and professor of supply chain and logistics technology at the University of Houston.

More than $100 million a day of both imports and exports could be jeopardized if workers at the Port of Houston go on strike when their contract expires in six days.

The strike involves dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas, including the Ports of Houston, Galveston and Corpus Christi.

Port of Houston dockworkers have joined the nearly 50,000 striking from Texas to Maine. ILA union demands fair wages, automation ban in new contract.

Thousands of unionized dockworkers on the East and Gulf Coasts went on strike Tuesday morning, stranding cargo and sending ripples through supply chains for consumer goods and manufacturing parts. A contract between the operators of port terminals and the International Longshoremen’s Association,

Houston trucking companies said they're already feeling the impact of the workers' strike because they can't move anything.