The International Longshoremen's Association reached an agreement Wednesday on a new master labor contract with the United States Maritime Alliance, averting a strike at U.S. east coast and gulf coast ports.

A massive strike across the U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports has been averted after a dockworker union and an alliance of companies, terminal operators, and port associations, negotiated a new labor contract.

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.