After a long, seemingly endless day and night at the Coos Bay Red Lion Hotel, members of the Coos County negotiating team and county union representatives reached a tentative agreement this morning, just six hours shy of a walkout.

The agreement was reached about 1 a.m. after state mediator Bob Nightingale spent the evening running proposals back and forth to the two parties camped in different rooms at the hotel. Negotiations began about noon Sunday.

Some 160 county employees, ready with signs and preparing to walk the picket lines this morning, instead will be going to work as usual in their non-managerial positions in the mental and public health, planning, assessor, parks, elections, district attorney, juvenile and community corrections departments.

"This was a compromise settlement," said Ken Allen, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "Neither side got everything they wanted, but we believe it's a workable agreement that both sides can live with."

AFSCME Local 2936 employees announced its intent to strike after a mediation session held between the county and the union on Feb. 23 yielded "worse than fruitless" results, according to AFSCME public affairs director Don Loving.

The county and the union began negotiations prior to when the previous contract expired in June 2003, but failed to agree on wages and a health benefits package. Nightingale was called in after face-to-face negotiations failed and the county declared an impasse. Five mediation sessions were held.

Sparks flew when the county implemented its final offer on Feb. 26 and began deducting from February paychecks the difference between the health benefits package the union had been receiving and what the county agreed to pay for. It amounted to as much as $350 for some employees.

According to the union, some county AFSCME employees working in clerical positions take home between $1,100 and $1,200 a month.

The county's implementation of its final offer prompted the union to give a 10-day notice of intent to strike, which is required by Oregon labor laws. Nightingale set a down-to-the-wire mediation session for March 7, the day prior to the intended strike date.

"Obviously I'm pleased we were able to reach an agreement," said an exhausted Coos County Human Resource director Steve Allen early this morning from the motel. Others also remained after the tentative agreement was reached, including Local 2936 president David Jennings, who was busy calling key people to notify county employees that they would be expected to show up for work this morning.

"The agreement reached represents a win-win for the county and its dedicated workers," said David Koch, assistant county counsel, who, along with Allen, negotiated on behalf of the county.

"We have met the county's objective of controlling health insurance costs in a way that we believe is fair and reasonable for our employees," Koch said.

Loving said the tentative settlement, which still needs to be ratified by union members, is not something members will be jumping up and down about. When it got down to final numbers, the county and the union's disagreement amounted to around $10 per month.

"That's not enough to strike over," Loving said. "Do I think all our employees will love this? No. But the fact is that about one year from now we'll start bargaining again."

Jennings agreed that union members may not be "wildly enthusiastic" about the tentative agreement, but it will keep them from having to walk off their jobs.

"That's what our employees wanted," Jennings said, "to only strike if absolutely necessary. They wanted to stay on their jobs and continue to serve the public."