Thousands of East and Gulf Coast port workers are ready to walk off the job on October 1. Here's what's at stake.

The union, which represents dockworkers across 36 ports on the U.S. East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, threatens to strike on Oct. 1. If its members walk off the job at ports stretching from Maine to Texas,

As a strike looms, port operators said labor leaders were refusing to bargain, as big retailers brace for supply chain hiccups.