Sprint Nextel workers in returned to work Monday after the union approved a new contract with the company. The employees had been on strike since Oct. 10.

“We didn’t achieve everything, but we were able to get movement on some of the key issues,” Gary McClure, president of the union local in Hickory, N.C., told the Hickory Daily Record.

“From our perspective, we believe it was fair and equitable,” said Sprint spokesman Tom Matthews. “We’re pleased to have it behind us. You hate to have things like this come about.”

Both union and company officials declined to discuss the details of the new contract, which runs through May 2008.

The employees, who work for a portion of the company which provides home telephone service, primarily in rural areas, had gone on strike over proposed cuts to insurance benefits and retirement plans, as well as reductions in paid leave and overtime. Some employees had also alleged that the company diverted profits from local telephone service to fund its wireless business unit.

Sprint’s local phone unit has about 7.5 million local access lines in 18 states and generated $2.99 billion in operating revenue in the first six months of 2005.