NEW YORK (Reuters) - Macy's Inc and the union representing 4,000 workers at four of its New York area stores, including its famed flagship, reached a tentative new labor agreement on Thursday, averting what would have been the department store's first strike since 1972.
The new five-year labor contract must be ratified by union members. Workers at Macy's store in Manhattan's Herald Square will vote on Thursday, with colleagues at stores in Queens, the Bronx and Westchester County following suit next week.
The current contract, signed in 2006, was extended by 45 days in early May and expired at midnight on Wednesday. Negotiations continued through the night and into Thursday morning.
Macy's did not disclose any of the terms of the contract, but spokeswoman Elina Kazan said in an e-mailed statement that the deal "addresses the economic and business realities of the retailing industry, while keeping jobs at Macy's among the best in the department store industry."
Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, said in a statement the deal showed the benefits of being part of a union.
The union had demanded better wages, pension and health benefits, and hours, saying that Macy's recent sales and profit gains warrant improvements in their working conditions.
(Reporting by Phil Wahba and Roy Strom; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Derek Caney)
