A 63 percent wage increase for East and Gulf Coast longshoremen helped halt the walkout, which threatened to damage the national economy had it continued.

U.S. dockworkers agreed to return to work after port operators sweetened their contract offer, ending a three-day strike that threatened to disrupt the American economy. The breakthrough Thursday came after port employers offered a 62% increase in wages over six years,

The union representing 45,000 striking dockworkers in South Carolina and other East and Gulf coast ports has agreed to suspend its 3-day strike until Jan. 15