Time is running out to avoid a work stoppage at ports along the entire East and Gulf coasts that what could become the most disruptive strike to the US economy in decades.

The union representing U.S. dockworkers has signaled that 45,000 of its members will walk off the job at midnight, kicking off a strike likely to shut down ports across the East and Gulf coasts. The coming work stoppage threatens to significantly snarl the nation's supply chain,

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.

The Port of New York and New Jersey was preparing for an expected strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association, whose dockworkers were set to walk off the job at midnight. The strike was expected to come after months of contract talks between the ILA and the container shipping consortium United States Marine Alliance stalled.