SBC, Union Resume Contract Negotiations

SBC Communications Inc. and a union representing 100,000 workers resumed talks in hopes of reaching a new contract at the nation’s second-largest local phone company before Saturday’s strike deadline.

The line installers, call-center employees and other workers in 13 states have been without a contract since April 3.

SBC has said it would bring in nonunion workers in the event of a strike.

Negotiations between SBC and the Communications Workers of America were underway in Washington with the help of a federal mediator. The biggest issues -- wages, job security, healthcare and pensions -- were unresolved.