WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lucent Technologies Inc. reached a tentative agreement early Tuesday with two labor unions that cover about 3,250 employees nationwide, a company spokeswoman said.þþThe deadline for the contract expiration had been extended to 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, and talks continued after the deadline passed.þþLucent spokeswoman Mary Ward did not reveal details of the agreement, but said the company and the unions had bargained over issues like whether retirees should contribute to the cost of their health insurance.þþMost of the 3,250 workers are represented by the Communications Workers of America; about 250 are represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.þþThe Murray Hill, N.J.-based maker of telecommunications equipment has about 31,800 workers worldwide, including about 500 CWA members in New Jersey.þþLucent also has some 70,000 union retirees for whom it was given responsibility when the company was spun off from AT&T Corp. in 1996.þþLucent and the unions had met in Washington since Oct. 7. Their contract expired at the end of October and negotiators agreed at the time to extend talks.þþThe Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, an independent U.S. government agency whose mission is to preserve and promote labor-management peace and cooperation, hosted the negotiations.þþ
Source: NY Times
