Clerical workers went on strike at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports on Thursday to press their demand for job security, Xinhua reported.

        Organisers said they expected the strike to deal a blow to the nation's busiest port complex as all critical paperwork came to stop.

        Containers not being unloaded could mean millions of lost dollars a day, and delay goods from reaching stores across the country.

        But ships were still being loaded and unloaded at the docks, a port spokesman said.