BATON ROUGE - Dockworkers at the Baton Rouge port were on strike Tuesday as part of a nationwide movement. 

The strike began early Tuesday over wages and automation even though progress had been reported in contract talks. The contract between the ports and about 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association expired at midnight, the Associated Press reports. 

"We're not asking for anything unreal or unbelievable," one of the workers said. "We're just looking for stuff that is well due to any working person."