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.

An agreement that includes automation job protections will avoid disruptive port strikes that could have erupted as early as next week.

Reuters reports that the union representing 45,000 dock workers on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts and their employers reached a tentative deal on a new six-year contract.

Dockworkers and employers on the East and Gulf Coasts had until Jan. 15 to reach a new agreement that settled differences over automation.

U.S. port strike has been averted after the union representing 45,000 dockworkers on the east and Gulf Coasts struck a tentative deal Wednesday on a new six-year contract. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the key issue has been port workers fighting to save their jobs from automation.

The United States Maritime Alliance and International Longshoremen's Association reached a deal on a contract Wednesday night avoiding a strike that could have shut down ports up and down the East Coast and crippled the U.S. economy.

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate ticked up again this week, remaining at its highest level since July.

The US Maritime Alliance struck a six-year deal with shipping and port companies, averting a strike that would have crippled shipping.

A US dockworkers union reached a tentative deal on a new labor contract with a group of ocean carriers and terminal operators that, if ratified would avoid a shutdown of East and Gulf coast ports next week.