San Francisco ? A delegation of leaders from the West Coast dockworkers union overwhelmingly endorsed a proposed contract Thursday that would end the labor dispute that shuttered ports this fall.

The landmark six-year deal, reached with shipping companies last month only after federal intervention, must still be approved by the rank and file of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Those ballots will be counted Jan. 24.

Approval appeared more likely with Thursday’s word that representatives of Pacific ports voted “overwhelmingly” to recommend that the union’s 10,500 members ratify the deal.

Though the deal includes handsome benefits and raises that will earn the average longshoreman around $90,000 per year, critics worried language opening the docks to a new wave of computer technology did not protect union jobs.