Feb 25 (Reuters) - Over 45,000 U.S. dockworkers

represented by the International Longshoremen's Association

(ILA) voted to ratify a new six-year contract on Tuesday,

formalizing a deal which offers bumper pay hikes and averts

fears of any future disruption until 2030.

Terms of the contract, previously agreed upon by the labor

union and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), included a

62% wage hike over the life of the agreement.

The new contract, which is retroactive to Oct. 1, 2024 and

will be in effect until Sept. 30, 2030, boosts the hourly base

rate for workers to $63 from $39, ranking longshoremen among the

highest paid blue-collar workers in the country.

It accelerates wage raises for new ILA workers, strengthens

healthcare plans and also increases employer contributions to

retirement plans, while safeguarding workers from threats of

increased automation.

The workers approved the new contract by a resounding 99%

vote. ILA and USMX said they will formally sign the agreement on

March 11.

"we now have labor peace for the next six years," ILA

President Harold Daggett said.

He previously claimed that the new contract will cost

employers an estimated $35 billion, "and that's a conservative

estimate".

"Our collective strength helped produce the richest contract

in our history," he said in a video to the members of the union

last week.

The agreement offers some relief to shippers, who continue

to operate in an uncertain environment due to factors such as

disruptions in the Red Sea and the looming threat of new

tariffs.

In talks which started early last year, both the labor union

and the employer group came to an agreement over wages in

October, putting an end to a three-day strike which caused a

spike in shipping prices and cargo backlogs at the three dozen

affected ports.

However, both the parties remained divided over issues

related to automation. It was not until January that a tentative

deal was signed, which also remained a priority for the White

House.

Both the ILA and USMX have previously credited President

Donald Trump for clearing the way for them to make a deal on

automation.

The 36 affected ports were some of the busiest in the U.S.

including the port of New York and New Jersey and together

account for more than half of the country's imports.

The employer group, represented by USMX, counts Maersk's

APM Terminals and the U.S. arms of major container

carriers such as China's COSCO Shipping as some of

its members.