'Today, y'all made history': Jacksonville port workers celebrate tentative agreement

The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance agreed to a tentative deal on wages Thursday , extending their existing contract through January 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract.

After walking off their jobs and being on strike for the last 72 hours, demanding fair wages, better schedules and no automation, Jacksonville ILA members poured into ILA Local 1408 union headquarters on Thursday evening, as word traveled fast by phone and word of mouth that their message may have been received.

“Today, y'all made history," announced Jacksonville ILA President Warren Smith.

"The wages are definitely an increase, and we welcome those, but it was about making sure we had job preservation, that’s what it was all about," Smith said. "My brothers and sisters from Maine to Texas, thank you so much for what you’ve done. You know it takes a lot of ingredients to bake a cake, so we have a template, we don’t have a 100% finished product, but we’re moving towards it. Thank you Jesus, you heard our prayers."

As ILA members head back to work Friday, they're hopeful this strike showed the Nation the need for these men and women.

Strike update: US port workers and operators reach deal to end East Coast strike immediately, union says

"It was good to bring awareness to what a longshoremen is, they’re just as important as a firefighter, a police officer, a doctor, a lawyer," said Mincey Pollack, ILA Member.

"We’re gonna get back to work, we’re gonna turn those ships, we’re gonna get everything back on schedule so we can do what we’ve always done…service our community," Smith said.

(This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)

This story was first published by First Coast News .

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: 'Today, y'all made history': Jacksonville port workers celebrate tentative agreement