SAN ANTONIO - Local-phone giant SBC Communications reached a tentative contract agreement with more than 100,000 union employees early today, hours after the workers' planned four-day strike came to an end, union and company officials said.

Communications Workers of America leaders say the five-year deal, which is subject to member ratification, improves wages and strengthens job security for the employees it represents in 13 states.

CWA workers walked off the job Friday and picketed at facilities across the nation to put pressure on SBC, but never intended for the strike to go beyond four days. Many returned to work after midnight Tuesday as planned, and the agreement came soon after.

"This agreement helps ensure that American workers and their communities benefit from the promise of new information technology jobs," CWA President Morton Bahr said in a statement, adding that the pact provides access and opportunity for members as they move from traditional telecom work to the new technologies of the industry.

The tentative agreement provided across-the-board base wage increases. On average, employees will receive base wage increases of 2.3 percent per year for five years and lump sums averaging $300 per year, said SBC officials.

"SBC now has a labor agreement that provides us greater control over our cost structure and flexibility to meet our competitive challenges, while continuing to provide the outstanding wages and benefits that are hallmarks of this company," SBC Chairman and chief executive Edward E. Whitacre Jr. said in a statement posted on the San Antonio-based company's Web site.

»www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mp···/2589994