BRYAN R. SMITH
- The International Longshoremen's Association and the United States Maritime Alliance reached a deal.
- Port employers and striking dockworkers reached a tentative agreement on wages, according to a joint statement.
- The strike will be suspended until January to allow time to work out the specifics of a new contract.
More than 45,000 striking port workers at docks from Maine to Texas have suspended their strike until January 15, 2025, and will return to work on Friday while contract negotiations continue, the union and organization that represents the ports said in a Thursday statement.
The International Longshoremen's Association and the United States Maritime Alliance released a joint statement saying the two sides reached a tentative agreement on wages and had "agreed to extend the Master Contract" until January 15 of next year. Both sides will return to the bargaining table to hash out "all other outstanding issues," the statement said.
CNN and the Associated Press were first to report the strike's end.
Port employers offered workers a 62% wage increase over the next six years, The Wall Street Journal reported, leading to the first movement in months.
The new wage offer is up from 50% following pressure from the White House, The Journal reported. The 62% increase would up the hourly rate for port workers from $39 to $63 in the coming years, according to the outlet.
The union had demanded a 77% increase for the six-year contract period, a figure that would still put them below many of their West Coast port worker counterparts, according to CBS News.
Members of the International Longshoremen's Association walked off the job on Tuesday after failing to come to an agreement with the management group that represents shipping lines and port authorities.
The two sides agreed Thursday that workers will suspend their strike until January to allow time to work out the specifics of a new contract, including automation, according to reports. The contract that expired earlier this week will be extended in the meantime, CNN reported.
The three-day strike shuttered ports across the East and Gulf Coast, disrupting the supply chain and impacting consumer items like fruits and car parts.
The brewing economic crisis had also threatened to upend the US presidential election less than five weeks before Election Day.