President-elect Donald Trump gave dockworkers a boost in contract negotiations by seemingly endorsing their union’s demand to stop automation, lowering the odds of an economically damaging strike when the current contract expires in mid-January.

East and Gulf Coast workers with the International Longshoremen’s Association have been struggling with negotiations with the U.S. Maritime Alliance for months. The union is demanding pay boosts and a total ban on the automation of cranes, gates, and container movements at the ports. Trump now appears to be siding with the union ahead of the Jan. 15 deadline.