Longshoremen are returning to work at the Port of Baltimore and other ports from Maine to Texas, three days after walking out on a strike that threatened to cripple the economy if it went on for an extended period of time.

Striking dockworkers reached a tentative agreement with port operators on Thursday for a 62 percent wage increase and have extended their contract through Jan. 15 to bargain over remaining issues.

The strike ends after a tentative deal was reached between the dockworkers and the management group United States Maritime Alliance, suspending a action that had the potential to disrupt the U.S. economy. The dockworkers won a 62 percent wage increase over six years, shy of their ask of 77 percent, according to a report from the Washington Post.