PHILADELPHIA—A tentative agreement on a new contract for hundreds of workers at a Philadelphia hospital has averted a threatened strike.

Talks between Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and workers ranging from nurses, housekeepers and clerical workers went down to the wire.

The Philadelphia Daily News ( http://bit.ly/LHCvl4) says the two sides reached a settlement at about 1 a.m. Sunday—an hour after the old contract expired.

Henry Nicholas, president of District 1199C of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees, said in a statement that the union didn't get everything it wanted but "everything major was achieved."

The union says it has six-year contracts including annual wage increases and preserving benefit and pension packages at Jefferson, Temple University Health System, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Hahnemann University Hospital.

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Information from: Philadelphia Daily News, http://www.philly.com