DETROIT (AP) — The union representing 45,000 dockworkers on strike at ports in the eastern United States and the Gulf Coast reached an agreement on Thursday to suspend their three-day strike until January 15 in order to allow time to negotiate a new contract.
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The union, the International Longshoremen's Association, will resume its work immediately. The temporary end of the strike was reached after the union and the United States Maritime Alliance, representing the ports and carriers, reached a tentative agreement on wages, according to a joint statement issued Thursday night.
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A person familiar with the agreement noted that the ports increased their salary offer from around 50% over six years to 62%. The person did not want to be identified because the agreement is still tentative. Any salary increase would have to be approved by the union members, as part of the ratification of a final contract.
Why did the dockworkers' union strike begin?
The union went on strike early Tuesday after their contract expired amid a wage dispute and the automation of tasks at the 36 ports from Maine to Texas.
The strike arose at the peak of the holiday shopping season activity in the ports, which handle approximately half of the cargo of ships arriving and departing from the United States.
The strike posed a risk of product shortages in stores if it were to last more than a few weeks. However, most retailers had enough items in inventory or had sent products in advance in anticipation of the strike.
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"With God's grace, and the goodwill of the neighbors, it will be maintained," President Joe Biden commented to reporters on Thursday night about the agreement.
In a subsequently published statement, the president praised both parties "for acting patriotically to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of crucial supplies for the recovery and reconstruction following Hurricane Helene’s passage,” in the United States.
Biden said that collective bargaining is "fundamental to building a stronger economy from the middle class out and from the bottom up."
Union members will not have to vote on the temporary suspension of the strike. Until January 15, workers will be covered by the old contract, which expired on September 30.
The union has been demanding a total ban on the use of automation in ports, which they consider a threat to their jobs. Both parties have also had different stances on contributions to the pension scheme and the distribution of royalties paid by the containers that the workers move.