The accord comes after representatives from the union and company met Tuesday, Dec. 11, in the Chicago area to discuss details of a comprehensive proposal that International Truck submitted to the UAW on Dec. 4.

International Truck’s UAW workers have been on strike since Oct. 23 – the UAW’s only protracted strike this year in the auto industry.

“We’ve all worked very, very hard for over two years to reach this point,” Jeff Bowen, International Truck vice president of human resources, said in a message on the company’s labor negotiations hot line. “I believe both the company and the union leadership are strongly supporting this agreement.”

About 3,700 UAW rank-and-file members at 11 locals in six states must ratify the agreement. The ratification vote is scheduled for this weekend. If ratified, the contract would replace the five-year labor pact that expired Oct. 1.

“Job security was the top priority for our members at ITE,” UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said in a statement.

The UAW Navistar Policy Committee managed to secure a moratorium on such things as outsourcing and plant closures, according to a press release.

“The bargainers held firm in insisting on these moratoriums that will benefit not only themselves, but also the communities where they live and work,” Gettelfinger said in a statement. “We are all very pleased with this agreement and are recommending it to the membership for ratification.”

International Truck, a unit of Navistar Corp., has continued to operate by moving work from some UAW-represented plants to nonunion company plants.

Production of Power Stroke diesel engines that International Truck supplies to Ford Motor Co. for its Super Duty pickups was transferred from International’s Indianapolis engine plant to its nonunion plant in Huntsville, Ala. So far Ford has reported no disruptions in engine deliveries.

International Truck said it has been bargaining with the union for more than two years. In June 2006, the UAW rank and file rejected a tentative agreement, the company said.

The new tentative agreement “achieves the goals that we have identified — and that is allowing our UAW plants to become more competitive in this challenging global market while at the same time maintaining a solid quality of life for our UAW employees and retirees,” Bowen said.

“Our negotiating team did an outstanding job bringing these talks to a successful close,” UAW Vice President General Holiefield said in a statement. Holiefield leads union’s Heavy Trucks Department. “They stood up to the company’s demands and came away with an agreement that protects jobs, wages and health care benefits for our membership.”