With 45,000 longshoremen at 36 U.S. ports on strike for the first time in decades, experts say the workers may wield the upper hand in their standoff with port operators.

Dockworkers at dozens of U.S. ports are digging in for a massive pay increase, seeking to flex their power in a strike that aims to strangle the flow of trade across much of the country.“This is going down in history what we’re doing here,