Dock employers in British Columbia said they will lock out workers Nov. 4 in response to a union’s strike notice, halting trade at terminals across Canada’s busiest and third-busiest ports.

Dock foremen and women in British Columbia issued a strike notice for Nov. 4, setting up a complete shutdown of Canada’s busiest port, a business group said.

The union representing dockworkers in East Coast ports is set to return to the bargaining table next month, part of an arrangement reached after a three-day strike was suspended Oct. 3.

Shipping stocks slumped worldwide after a strike by U.S. dockworkers was suspended after only three days, spurring predictions of a decline in the price of transporting goods by sea.

Ports are reopening Oct. 4, and the ILA and USMX will restart negotiations on a long-term agreement, which will include a pay increase of about 62%.

During visits to Costco stores in northern New Jersey, Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh said his team “observed behaviors similar to the start of the pandemic.”

President Joe Biden ratcheted up pressure on U.S. port employers and shipping lines to restart talks with striking dockworkers, warning that the unfolding strike could turn into a “man-made disaster.”

According to the Congressional Research Service, about half the time that presidents have invoked Section 206 of Taft-Hartley, the parties worked out their differences.

As day one of the dockworkers strike unfolded, economists were trying to quantify the damage from the supply chain disruption caused by the closure of 36 ports.

PHILADELPHIA — Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas began walking picket lines early Oct. 1 in a strike over wages and automation.