The union representing thousands of U.S. dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports has reached a tentative agreement on a new six-year contract Wednesday.

U.S. ports from Maine to Texas are closed due to a strike by the union representing about 45,000 dockworkers.

Some manufacturers and retailers are urging President Joe Biden to invoke a 1947 law as a way to suspend a strike by 45,000 dockworkers that has shut down 36 U.S. ports from Maine to Texas.

Dozens of workers outside the Bayboard Container Terminal in Seabrook holding signs saying “NO WORK WITHOUT A FAIR CONTRACT” and “ILA WORKERS OVER MACHINES; DEFEND OUR JOBS AND RIGHTS.”

A strike by the ILA workers would be the first by the union since 1977 and could have major impacts on the U.S. economy