There are only 160 dockworkers in Boston. But the strike that they’ve launched could have surprisingly far-reaching effects on the local economy, reports CBS Boston. International Longshoremen Association members in 13 other East Coast cities also went on strike yesterday. … Just fyi: Among other things, longshoremen are demanding an end to further port automation. Automation has long been a thorny labor-management issue in a wide variety of industries. But one has to wonder if this is an early-stage skirmish in the robotics revolution we’ve heard so much about. Hey, they’ve aggressively automated warehouses. Why not docks?

Update – The Globe has more on the expected local impact of the strike.