CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Local members of the International Longshoremen’s Association were out on the picket lines in full force Tuesday for the first day of the historic, coast-wide port strike. “We have a major hold-up with wages and hourly amounts. And they’re making huge billion, billion-dollar profits and we just want our fair share,” said Lance McLaughlin, the president of ILA Local 1771 in Charleston. Beeps of support came from cars driving by on Morrison Drive while signs waved in the air. The longshore workers are determined to keep up a 24/7 presence there and outside of the North Charleston and Wando Welch Terminals until the ILA and United States Maritime Alliance agree on a new Master Contract. “When they hear these numbers, ‘well a dockworker can earn $150-160,000,’ they’re long nights, long days. We work 15 hours, 16 hours,” explained Kenneth Riley, the ILA International Vice President for the Port of Charleston. Charleston ILA members joined thousands of other dockworkers on the East and Gulf Coasts who walked off the job at midnight. Going on its first strike in almost 50 years, the labor union is demanding a $5 an-hour wage increase every year of the new contract and no automation or semi-automation. “It’s not what we’re fighting for, it’s what we’re fighting against. We’re fighting against the job-eliminating automation that would put all of these workers and their families on the unemployment line,” Riley told News 2. In its last update on Monday, USMX said the two entities traded counter-offers related to wages. USMX touted a 50% wage increase and other benefits in the statement, but so far, there was still no deal Tuesday. “No one wants this. No one wants this, we’re out of work. These people don’t get paid. You know, we’re not getting paid. So, we need to provide for our families. We want resolution but, we’re willing to hold out as long as we have to,” McLaughlin shared. The strike – which could last week or months – has left some consumers concerned about potential product shortages and higher prices on retail goods.    Kent Gourdin, the director of the College of Charleston’s Global Logistics and Transportation Program, said the strike could cause disruptions in the supply chain but the extent of the impact will depend on how long it lasts. “It takes five times as long as a strike lasts to get back some semblance of normalcy,” he said. “So, if it really went on, it could be extremely damning.” The uncertainty comes at the start of the holiday shipping season, which typically begins in October and runs through the beginning of January. “The big fear is the holidays that are coming and for shipping, this is the holidays,” Gourdin said. But Gourdin noted that companies were aware of when the contract would expire and took steps accordingly.  “At some point when it’s not settled, you have to take action on the premise that it won’t be settled in time,” he said. “So, companies have been doing that.” Matt Shay, the CEO of the National Retail Federation, said during a Monday appearance on CNBC that many retailers began shipping containers to the U.S. or rerouting cargo to West Coast ports in June in anticipation of the strike.   "Our members have done everything they can to mitigate, to guard against what might happen but no matter your scale...you can't prepare for every contingency," Shay said. "There are others that can't prepare at all and that's going to have a ripple effect on families, on American workers across the economy that we just don't really need at this point in our economic cycle."  Meanwhile, back in Charleston, ILA members said they would take turns working shifts on the picket lines to keep negotiations in the spotlight around the clock.