Retailers say they can weather a short shutdown but prices are likely to rise and shortages might grow in a prolonged walkout.

Members of the International Longshoremen's Association walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 1 — the minute their labor contracts expired —with three local Charleston unions boycotting outside S.C. State Ports Authority terminals for better wages and "respect."

The contract between the ports and about 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association expired at midnight, and even though progress