There is one week to go before a possible shutdown of the shipping ports of New Jersey and New York.

Longshoremen, who take care of the ships and containers that arrive at the ports, are threatening to strike on Oct. 1 if they don’t have a new contract with increased wages.

News 12 has also learned from truck drivers, who would also be out of work, that there are intentional slowdowns of work inside the port, which are causing backups. Those trucks can be seen lining up along the New Jersey Turnpike before heading into Port Elizabeth.

Drivers tell News 12 that because of the backups, the hours for container pickup have been extended to 9 p.m., instead of 5 p.m.

If longshoremen decide to strike, these truckers will also be out of work. One of those is Ibrahima Kone, an owner-operator of PortX Trucking.

“The last couple of days, to be honest, it’s been a nightmare for us,” says Kone. “We were on the line for so many hours before we get in the terminal.”

Kone says the slowdown inside is obvious.

“More hours mean more money. If they slow down, they get more hours,” Kone says.

Currently, there are no negotiations taking place between the union representing the longshoremen and the U.S. Maritime Alliance.

The International Longshoreman Association has been asking for a 77% wage increase over a six-year contract.

“The blame for a coast-wide strike in a week that will shut down all ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts falls squarely on the shoulders of USMX,” says union president Harold Daggett.

This could have a wide-ranging impact on consumer goods reaching stores and the overall economy.

On the other hand, the U.S. Maritime Alliance says it offered a pay hike of 44%.

“Our goal remains the same, we want to bargain and avoid a strike, but time is running out if the ILA is unwilling to return to the table,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Maritime Alliance wrote in a statement.

As for truck drivers like Kone, if he's off the job, he'll still drive. Just not his car.

“I’ll drive Uber, I’ll turn my Uber App on,” he says.