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Verizon Communications and its two unions reached an agreement in principle on a new labor contract, the Labor Department said, paving the way for about 39,000 landline employees to return to work after a 44-day strike.

The parties are putting the four-year deal in writing, and union members should return to work next week, said Labor Secretary Thomas Perez in a statement. Full terms of the agreement weren't disclosed.

The walkout by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers has been one of the largest in the U.S. in recent years.

Perez helped broker the deal by bringing Verizon Chief Executive Lowell McAdam and two union executives to Washington to discuss ways to resolve the dispute.

The labor standoff pushed the number of striking U.S. workers to the highest in more than four years and could depress the May jobs numbers slated for release next week, data from the Labor Department showed.

To try and keep up with business demands during the strike, Verizon had dispatched managers and non-union workers to call centers and field-service assignments.

Yet even with the temporary help, the strike has been a drag on the company's landline business, Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said during an investor presentation earlier this month.

Because of the strike, Verizon probably won't add FiOS TV or broadband customers in the quarter, he said.

The new labor contract is the first since Verizon took full control of Verizon Wireless and agreed to buy AOL, two deals worth almost $135 billion that point toward a wireless-centric future.

The company has been shedding union-heavy operations, including its FiOS business in three states last month. Landlines accounted for 29 percent of Verizon's revenue, down from almost 50 percent in 2008.

And as its strategy has shifted, the ranks of union workers have shrunk by about half from 78,000 13 years ago.

Facing years of declines in the landline unit as more people opt for only wireless service, Verizon pushed to have union workers pitch in more for health benefits and be flexible on temporary job relocations.

The unions, which had been working without a contract since Aug. 1, wanted to limit those transfers of workers to other regions, protect jobs from being moved offshore and preserve pension increases.

Of the workers, about 29,000 are represented by the CWA, 10,000 by the IBEW, according Candice Johnson, a spokeswoman for the CWA. —

Impact of strike

The walkout by Verizon Communications Inc. employees last month pushed the number of striking U.S. workers to the highest in more than four years and could depress the May jobs numbers slated for release next week, data from the Labor Department showed.

The agency's report on Friday provides information on workers in strikes involving 1,000 or more employees who were idle for the entire reference pay period, which includes the 12th of the month. The report identified the telecommunications provider as the company involved, with 35,100 workers off the job across 10 states and the District of Columbia. The strike began on April 13.

Both the monthly employment numbers and the average hourly earnings data can be impacted by striking workers, depending on how long and during what period the strike takes place. The strike data are gathered from sources such as media and publicly available company or union reports. In the April reference period, there were no workers on strike.

About 39,000 landline workers have been on strike at Verizon, the U.S.'s largest wireless carrier, after rejecting proposals toward a new contract. Verizon has sought to increase workers' contributions for health benefits and greater flexibility in temporary job relocations.