Striking dockworkers reached a tentative agreement with port operators on Thursday for a 62 percent wage increase and have extended their contract through Jan. 15 to bargain over remaining issues.

Some 25,000 dockworkers at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports from Boston to Houston could strike as early as Tuesday. A prolonged strike would force companies to pay shippers for the delays, and goods could arrive too late for the high point of the holiday shopping season.

A prolonged strike would force companies to pay shippers for the delays, and goods could arrive too late for the high point of holiday shopping season.