WASHINGTON — Dockworkers on the U.S. East and Gulf coasts overwhelmingly approved a six-year contract Tuesday, averting the threat of a strike that could have crippled the economy.

The yes vote was expected after the leadership of the International Longshoremen’s Association union reached a tentative contract agreement in January with the U.S. Maritime Alliance of ports and shipping companies.

The alliance approved the contract last month, and on Tuesday rank-and-file members voted for it with nearly 99% in favor.

The contract calls for a 62% pay hike over six years that would lift hourly wages at the top of the union pay scale from $39 an hour to $63 an hour.

ILA President Harold Daggett, who served as chief negotiator, was quoted in the statement as saying the agreement is “the ‘gold standard’ for dockworker unions globally.”

He remarked that it was a difficult contract to negotiate and even required a three-day strike last fall, but “We now have labor peace for the next six years.”

– The Associated Press