Striking Nassco Workers May Return : Labor: Union members to vote on whether to resume jobs at shipyard while contract dispute is ironed out.

Negotiators for 2,700 striking National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. union members have signed a tentative agreement with shipyard management that would put employees back to work Monday while a final resolution of the 3-week-old labor dispute is worked out.

The agreement signed Friday by Nassco management and representatives of seven unions is contingent on approval by rank-and-file workers in votes scheduled for today and Sunday. If approved, workers could be back on the job at Nassco’s San Diego shipyard as early as Monday morning.

Neither Nassco nor union officials would comment on the agreement or whether it means that a contract settlement is any closer. “We agreed not to go public at all until the final vote count is made Sunday evening,” Nassco vice president Fred Hallett said Friday.

Jim Archer, assistant business manager for the electrical workers’ union, said the agreement would provide a “cooling-off period.” Wages generally would follow the provisions of the expired contract, though workers would get the 25-cents-per-hour raise proposed by Nassco management when they resume work, he said.

In a statement, Nassco said only that it was “optimistic that the employees will approve the agreement and return to work Monday.”

But Peter Zschiesche, chief negotiator for the unions, was more cautious, saying “optimism is premature” before the vote by union members.

“We have a good number of people who are not ready to abandon the strike,” Zschiesche said.

Union members struck the Nassco shipyard after their contract expired at midnight Sept. 29, the fourth strike at Nassco since 1981.

In dispute are wage, benefits, seniority and union rights issues.

Management at Nassco, the last major shipyard on the West Coast, said it cannot remain competitive if it meets union demands. U.S. shipyards have suffered over the past decade from competition from foreign shipyards, many of which receive government subsidies.

Union workers are frustrated that wages have not risen above 1987 levels and that union rights are being whittled away, Zschiesche said.

The company has offered a five-year contract with 25-cent-per-hour annual raises above the current $12.72-per-hour journeyman wage. Nassco also wants to scale back benefits and limit cost-of-living increases to the amount over a 4% inflation floor.

The unions have demanded a wage increase of $2 an hour over a three-year contract and preservation of seniority and union rights.

Nassco has continued to do construction and repair work at a slower pace using its regular team of subcontractors plus about 450 of its 900 salaried employees, who normally do other jobs, Hallett said.

Associated Press contributed to this report.