A massive port strike up the East Coast that began on Tuesday has the potential to become one of America’s most disruptive work stoppages in recent times.

The International Longshoremen’s Association received a new wage offer and will halt its walkout at East and Gulf Coast ports, which began Tuesday.

A strike by dockworkers at dozens of U.S. ports has paralyzed about half of the country’s ocean shipping, and a prolonged dispute could bring the issue close to home for consumers. The strike, which includes about 45,

Long lines of container ships queued up outside major U.S. ports on Thursday as the biggest dockworker strike in nearly half a century entered its third day preventing unloading and threatening shortages of everything from bananas to auto parts.

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,

Dockworkers at US East and Gulf coast ports have agreed to start moving cargo again while they continue collective bargaining with their employers on a new contract, the union representing the workers said in a statement on Thursday.

The walkout threatened to plunge the holiday shopping season into turmoil and become an issue in next month's presidential election.

The sweetened proposal comes amid pressure from White House to end a walkout that has shut down ports from Maine to Texas.