[0] STRIKE OVER?; UPS, TEAMSTERS REACH DEAL ON CONTRACT.

Byline: Kevin Galvin Associated Press 

The Teamsters union and United Parcel Service reached a tentative agreement Monday night to end a 15-day strike that disrupted package deliveries nationwide.

The deal was announced by Labor Secretary Alexis Herman, who was joined at an news conference early this morning by Teamsters President Ron Carey and the company's chief negotiator, David Murray.

President Clinton, vacationing on Martha's Vineyard, praised both sides for an agreement that he said ``represents their hard work and determination. . . . The issues that were at the heart of their negotiations are important to our nation's economic strength and to all Americans.''

Herman's announcement capped a five-day span of virtually nonstop talks in which Herman sometimes participated.

``When there are differences, it takes real work . . . to bridge those differences,'' she said at a news conference at 12:30 a.m. EDT today.

Murray said both sides compromised to reach the deal. ``To our employees: We hope to welcome you back very soon,'' he said.

Carey said he would answer questions later at a news conference at Teamsters headquarters.

Both sides declined to provide details of the agreement, but a source familiar with the deal said it was for a five-year contract that increased the base wage for part-time workers and did not include a contentious pension proposal made by the company.

It also would convert thousands of part-time jobs into full-time positions.

The union's national bargaining committee and local union leaders who represent UPS workers were told to fly to Washington today to receive the package for approval - the final steps before a rank-and-file vote.

The Teamsters, representing nearly two-thirds of UPS' 302,000 U.S. employees, went on strike Aug. 4. Their contract expired July 31.

On a normal business day, UPS moves 12 million bundles and parcels, or the equivalent of 5 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. But with the support of the package delivery giant's 2,000 pilots, the Teamsters virtually shut the company down, leaving business owners scrambling to find alternative carriers.

It was unclear whether the workers would return to their jobs immediately, or whether they would wait for local union leaders to send the contract out to their members for a vote.

During the walkout, the union insisted that the company add more full-time positions. It also opposed UPS' plan to withdraw from the Teamsters' multiemployer pension and health funds and establish a separate benefit fund for UPS workers.

Pressure on both sides escalated during the strike's second week. The company estimated its losses at up to $300 million in business each week and the union owed pickets about $10 million in weekly strike benefits.

The Clinton administration had resisted calls from business groups to intervene and end the strike. The White House said the work stoppage did not pose a threat to the nation's safety and health, the standard for intervention under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act.

But by publicly urging both sides back to the bargaining table, and by remaining in the hotel where the talks took place, Herman raised the pressure for an end to the biggest strike in more than two decades.

This was Herman's first major test, and it was a shining moment. Organized labor had resisted her nomination, and her battle for confirmation to lead the Labor Department dragged on for months.

The first hint of progress came Thursday, when UPS CEO James Kelly suggested the company was willing to modify its ``last, best and final offer'' and Labor Department officials described the day's discussions ``substantive and detailed.''