Members of a company union approved a deal on Sunday that wraps up a long running strike by hundreds of FairPoint Communications workers, union officials announced.

Four months ago, some 1,800 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Communications Workers of America in Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire went on strike when talks bogged down.

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FairPoint, a big provider of landline telecommunications in northern New England, hired replacement staff in their absence, which began October 17 last year.

Negotiators of FairPoint and the union agreed on a temporary deal on February 19, followed by 72 hours of voting by union members that concluded on Sunday. The union declined to disclose the vote totals.

The deal includes a union-supervised health insurance plan with better benefits at a lower price, local representatives of the union announced in a statement on Sunday.

For its part, FairPoint conceded not to take out a two-tier pay structure and to secure jobs from outsourcing.

The president of CWA Local 1400, Don Trementozzi, said in a union statement that the deal is a win for workers and for FairPoint employees that will be hired.

He explained that workers went on strike in October last year because they are committed to safekeeping good, middle-class work in New England.

Representatives for FairPoint have yet to comment on the deal but, on February 19, the telecom provider said the agreement would grant employees the best benefits and pay in New England while boosting the company's competitive advantage in the utility market.