Biden and Trump lined up behind the dockworkers who walked out of every major East and Gulf coast port on Tuesday, each accusing the ocean carriers of exploiting workers during the pandemic.

After tens of thousands of dockworkers walked off the job at midnight, the Biden administration is confronting the complicated politics – and limited toolkit – of a work stoppage in the home stretch of a critical election season in which the economy has taken center stage.

President Joe Biden’s administration heaped pressure on U.S. port employers to raise their offer to secure a labor deal with dockworkers on strike for a second day on Wednesday, choking half the country’s ocean shipping.