Members of AFSCME Local 66 are voting today on a tentative agreement to end the nearly two-week-old strike at the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District.

"I think they will approve it," said Alex Livadaros, chair of the union bargaining unit.

Most of the agreement was hammered out last Thursday with the help of a mediator, he said, but details concerning return to work were not resolved until Sunday.

The tentative settlement is actually two agreements, Livadaros said, one covering 2002 and the other for the next three years.

Key issues in the walkout by 85 workers were job security and health insurance. In negotiations, WLSSD management insisted on the right to retain temporary employees while laying off permanent full-time employees and unilaterally create part-time positions from current full-time positions.

"Our issue with job security is taken care of," Livadaros said. "They didn't force it."

Workers will pay more for their health insurance, but less than the company originally sought, he said.

Results of the union vote are scheduled to be announced at about 5 p.m. today. The WLSSD Board, which also must approve the contract for it to take effect, has scheduled a meeting for this evening. WLSSD provides sewage treatment services for Duluth and surrounding areas.

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