Union agrees to suspend port strike

The International Longshoremen's Association agreed Thursday to suspend a strike that closed major ports on the East and Gulf Coasts. The move followed an improved wage offer from port employers.

The strike, which the longshoremen's union began on Tuesday, threatened to strain the economy five weeks before national elections. Employers represented by the United States Maritime Alliance have offered to increase wages by 62 percent over the course of a new six-year contract, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who did not want to be identified because talks were ongoing. This increase is less than the union originally requested, but significantly higher than the alliance's previous offer.

In a statement, the union said it had reached “a tentative agreement on wages” and its 45,000 members would go back to work, with the current contract extended until January 15. The union said it would return to the bargaining table “to negotiate all other outstanding issues.”

The alliance initially did not issue its own statement.

The agreement came after the White House urged both sides to reach an agreement. The wage increase is a clear victory for the ILA and its combative president, Harold J. Daggett, a 78-year-old third-generation longshoreman who has led the union since 2011.

A 62 percent increase would raise the top longshoremen's pay from today's $39 an hour to just over $63 an hour at the end of a new six-year contract. And at $63 an hour, East and Gulf Coast longshoremen's wages would be slightly higher than what West Coast longshoremen belonging to a different union will earn at the end of their contract in 2027.

In the resumed talks, the question of how much automation can take place at the ports could divide the sides.

Many companies anticipated the strike and accelerated their imports through the ports in advance of the strike. However, a long strike could have led to bottlenecks and has already caused supply chains to be overloaded.

Perishable goods were particularly at risk from a strike. “I'm definitely relieved,” Daniel J. Barabino, chief operating officer of Top Banana, a fruit distributor based at Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx, said after Thursday's announcement. “I’m glad to have this behind us.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.