Tens of thousands of longshoremen are likely to go on strike at midnight, shutting down dozens of major ports and choking off deliveries of a range of goods.

Retailers are scrambling ahead of 45,000 longshoremen's threat to strike Tuesday, impacting supply chain in and out of East and Gulf Coast ports.

With a strike deadline looming, the group representing East and Gulf Coast ports is asking a federal agency to make the Longshoremen’s union come to the bargaining table to negotiate a new contract. The U.