Key Takeaways Dock workers and employers at East and Gulf Coast ports have reached a tentative agreement on a new six-year contract.The deal averts a strike that could have restarted when the current deal expires on Jan.

The union representing 45,000 dock workers on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts and their employers on Wednesday said they reached a tentative deal on a new six-year contract, averting further strikes that could have snarled supply chains and taken a toll on the U.

Automation was at the center of a long-running labor dispute that threatened to close East and Gulf Coast ports.