US port workers and operators reach deal to end East Coast strike immediately

A union representing U.S. dock workers and port operators have reached a tentative deal on wages that will end a three-day strike that has shut down shipping on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast, the International Longshoremen's Association union and the United States Maritime Alliance said on Thursday.

The agreement extends the master contract between the union and port operators until Jan. 15, 2025, allowing negotiations to continue on other aspects of the contract. A joint statement did not specify what wages were agreed upon or the other terms that required negotiation.

"Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume," the statement said.

The tentative agreement is for a wage hike of around 62% over six years, The Bergen Record, a part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, reported.

The workers union had been seeking a 77% raise while the employer group previously raised its offer to a nearly 50% hike.

The deal ends the biggest work stoppage of its kind in nearly half a century, which blocked unloading of container ships from Maine to Texas and threatened shortages of everything from bananas to auto parts, triggering a backlog of anchored ships outside major ports.

President Joe Biden praised the agreement in a statement released by the White House moments after the agreement was announced.

"I want to thank the union workers, the carriers, and the port operators for acting patriotically to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of critical supplies for Hurricane Helene recovery and rebuilding," Biden said. "Collective bargaining works, and it is critical to building a stronger economy from the middle out and the bottom up."

The Biden administration sided with the union, putting pressure on the port employers to raise their offer to secure a deal and citing the shipping industry's bumper profits since the COVID-19 pandemic.

At least 45 container vessels that have been unable to unload were anchored outside the strike-hit East Coast and Gulf Coast ports by Wednesday, up from just three before the strike began on Sunday, according to Everstream Analytics.

The ILA launched the strike by 45,000 port workers, its first major work stoppage since 1977, on Tuesday after talks for a new six-year contract broke down.

The strike affected 36 ports ? including New York, Baltimore and Houston ? that handle a range of containerized goods. (Source: USA Today)