P. M. BRIEFING : Herald Examiner Management, Union Reach Pact, Avert Walkout

Management and union representatives of reporters, janitors and other Los Angeles Herald Examiner employees reached a tentative agreement today on a new labor contract, averting a possible walkout.

The agreement was reached after talks that began Sunday afternoon and continued until 5 a.m. today, said John Chandler, a Herald reporter and spokesman for the Graphic Communications Union, which represents 500 of the paper’s 800 workers.

Chandler said that details of the tentative pact could not be released immediately and that workers affected by it would have terms explained to them during the day.

“People are being told to report to work this morning. . . . There will be a meeting (Tuesday) morning, and the bargaining committee and the union will recommend that the rank and file accept the contract,” Chandler said. He said the contract will be voted upon at the same meeting.

Employees sought salaries closer to those paid at their sister newspaper in the Hearst organization, the San Francisco Examiner. Top-scale Herald reporters receive $563 a week contrasted with $801 a week for Examiner reporters.