The looming threat of 18,000 Costco store employees heading to the picket lines appears less likely, with the Teamsters labor union announcing Saturday that it has reached a tentative agreement for a new contract with the grocery chain.

Costco and the Teamsters union have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, avoiding a strike, the union said Saturday.

Teamsters officials made no real preparations for a strike, as reported by rank-and-file members across various locals. From the beginning, it was evident that the union leadership’s primary goal was to avoid any disruption to Costco’s operations rather than to fight for workers’ demands.