President Biden on Thursday hailed the agreement made between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) to end the port strike, arguing that collective bargaining works and is essential to the economy. “Today’s tentative agreement on a record wage and an extension of the collective bargaining process represents critical progress towards a strong contract,” Biden, who has stood behind the striking workers, said in a statement. “Collective bargaining works, and it is critical to building a stronger economy from the middle out and the bottom up,” he added. The ILA announced Thursday night that the USMX, which is an association of companies that operate East and Gulf Coast ports, agreed to boost pay for port workers and that union members would return to work immediately. The president applauded all the parties involved for coming together to reopen the ports. He congratulated the ILA dockworkers, saying they “deserve a strong contract” and noted that they sacrificed to keep the ports open during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also applauded the port operators and careers, and said all parties involved acted “patriotically” so that ports could reopen to ensure the availability of supplies for cleanup after Hurricane Helene hit the U.S. The two-day strike could have had serious consequences for the U.S. economy and posed political issues for Biden and Vice President Harris.