P.M. BRIEFING : Accord Ends Navistar Strike

Negotiators today reached a settlement ending a strike by 8,000 Navistar International Corp. employees in six states.

Navistar spokesman Bill Greenhill said the employees who walked out at midnight Friday after a contract extension ran out would begin returning today. Navistar, formerly International Harvester, makes trucks and diesel engines.

The tentative agreement was reached about 3 a.m. after 19 hours of talks between the company and the United Auto Workers, union officials said.

Details of the agreement were withheld pending a meeting of the union bargaining committee on Wednesday, but Bill Casstevens, UAW secretary-treasurer and chief negotiator, said the pact “meets the membership’s needs for continued job and income security while making important improvements in economic areas.”

UAW spokesman Reg McGhee said a ratification vote could begin this week. Workers in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, Maryland and Texas were affected by the strike.