Port of NY & NJ: Dock workers return to work

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - Longshoremen are back on the job in New York and New Jersey after a walkout that temporarily halted work at the country's busiest East Coast port.

A spokesman for the International Longshoremen's Association says the union told members to start returning to work Friday evening. They'd walked off the job earlier in the day over concerns including the possible outsourcing of work as well as automation of other work.

New York Shipping Association spokeswoman Beverly Fedorko says operations are expected to be "normal and flow smoothly."

The port handles more than $200 billion worth of cargo annually. It is the busiest port on the East Coast and the third-busiest in the country, behind Los Angeles and Long Beach, California.

Port officials were reportedly surprised by the walk out of more than 4,000 longshoremen on Friday. An ILA spokesman told NJ.com that some rank-and-file members were angry over what they see as interference by the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor in their collective bargaining agreement.

Shipping company TMX Intermodal posted this photo to social media of the striking workers:

Earlier, the Port Authority of NY & NJ urged the workers to go back to work.