In a joint statement employers and union said, “The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. (USMX) have reached a tentative agreement on wages and have agreed to extend the Master Contract until January 15, 2025, to return to the bargaining table to negotiate all other outstanding issues.

“Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease, and all work covered by the Master Contract will resume.”

Members of the ILA had been on strike since Tuesday paralysing ports on the US East and Gulf Coasts after the existing six-year master contract for dockworker labour expired without agreement on 30 September.

Neither side revealed details of the tentative agreement on wages, however, reports indicate it is the 61% - 62% range over the six years of the contract. Previously the ILA had been seeking a 77% increase over six years while the USMX had increased its offer to “nearly 50%” the day before the strike started.

US President Joe Biden applauded the tentative agreement and the move to get ports on the East and Gulf Coasts working again.

“Today’s tentative agreement on a record wage and an extension of the collective bargaining process represents critical progress towards a strong contract. I congratulate the dockworkers from the ILA, who deserve a strong contract after sacrificing so much to keep our ports open during the pandemic. And I applaud the port operators and carriers who are members of the US Maritime Alliance for working hard and putting a strong offer on the table,” President Biden said in a Whitehouse statement.

The President had backed dockworkers previously and urged employers to make a better offer.

The two sides now have until 15 January 2025 to reach agreement on all outstanding issues and sign off on a new six-year master contract. Based on previous statements the largest outstanding issue is around terminal automation, which caused the ILA to walk out of formal negotiations in June this year and not return until now.

The ILA has demanded no further automation or semi-automation and the preservation of dockworker jobs. For its part employers have said they would “retain the current language around automation and semi-automation”.

The unions are also demanding 100% of the Container Royalty monies are paid to its members as wage supplement and not shared with employers.

Cargo shippers will breathe a sigh of relief as a lengthy strike would have wreaked havoc on already stressed global supply chains. US East and Gulf Coast’s accounted for 8% of global container volumes in 2023 according to HSBC Global Research.