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LEAD-IN BY HOST: Eleven hundred striking union workers at Dow Chemical's Plant in Freeport, Texas voted yesterday to approve a contract with the chemical giant, ending a weeklong standoff between Operators Union Local 564 and Dow's Texas Operation. While union leadership admits Dow made concessions to contract sticking points like seniority hiring practices, Union members must now decide if the eight year contract offers enough incentive to break the strike. Jackson Allers has more: STORY: Although he endorses the contract being voted on today, Business Manager and lead negotiator for the Union Charlie Singletary admits the workers who have read the contract are not totally happy with it. "We did what we could. We did the best that we could. And to salvage the union from being out on strike for a long time, we need to recommend this thing and pass it." After one week of striking, Singletary is asking union members to sign on to a deal reached with Dow Texas Operations on Sunday. Local 564 voted down two previous contract offers because Dow refused to include plant seniority as a key criterion for deciding job assignments. In the latest contract offer Dow officials have included seniority as a factor in the hiring process, although Dow company spokesperson David Winder would not say how much of a factor it would be. Another contract concern was the "pay as you perform" clause that will pay workers according to market values. But local union spokesperson Singletary says the chemical company has not specified how those performance values will be determined. "If you're a low performer, they'll pay you at a low-performer wage. If you're a high performer, they'll pay you at a high-performer wage. But you're really at the subject of the whim of the department head to pay you whatever he wants to, and there's not a whole bunch that you can do about it." Business Manager for the Metal Trades Council in Texas City, Jessie Sanchez was the lead negotiator in a similar contract dispute with DOW at the Texas City plant during 2002. Sanchez lent his negotiating skills to the Freeport union, and notes that the union leadership has a better relationship with DOW than he did at the Texas City plant. Still, Sanchez says in a right to work state like Texas, where workers are not required to be a part of a union, contract disputes tend to favor large companies. "You've got Bush over there, he's not going to have any sympathy for strikers. You know, you've got this big corporate America who won't hesitate to replace you if you go out on strike. If it's not an unfair labor practice strike, they have the right to do that. They send everybody a letter saying that if you don't come back to work by this time, we're going to replace you permanently." The Texas City Metal Trades Council ultimately settled for a long term 10 year contract with Dow, something Sanchez says hurts the collective bargaining process. The Freeport contract is an 8-year contract that will effectively cut the union off from negotiating any aspects of concern during that time. Union members are expected to approve the contract by 10 p.m. tonight. Jackson Allers, KPFT News, Houston. E-mail Jackson Allers at jacksonallers@hotmail.com . This story was broadcast on May 28, 2003.