LOS ANGELES — A caucus of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union voted overwhelmingly Thursday to recommend that its membership approve the tentative contract reached last month with waterfront employers.

The 92.4 percent vote in favor of the six-year deal makes approval by the rank and file likely, but not a certainty, when the membership vote is taken during the week of Jan. 6.

Given what ILWU spokesman Steve Stallone termed the "hyper-democracy" of the union, one voting unit on the West Coast can veto the proposed contract. If that happens - as it did in 1996 - a second vote would be needed. A minimum of 60 percent of the individual votes of the rank-and-file membership would be needed to override the veto and approve the contract.

The proposed contract, with generous improvements in medical and pension benefits, is the richest in the history of the ILWU and the costliest for the Pacific Maritime Association, Stallone said. "The cost to employers will more than double over six years," he said.

Pension benefits will increase almost 60 percent, from $95 per month per year of service to $150 by the end of the contract. The annual pension of a longshoreman who retires after 35 years of service would be $63,000. The contract also provides an increase in pension benefits for longshoremen who retired in past years.

During the ILWU caucus, which began Monday in San Francisco, it became apparent that the contract's provisions covering new technology and the expected loss of marine clerk jobs are the most controversial issues in the proposed contract. As many as 400 clerk positions could be phased out as new information technology systems are introduced.

Those caucus members who voted against the contract represented primarily clerks locals in Northern California, Oregon and Washington. They expressed concern about the language of the technology proposal, which is somewhat ambiguous, Stallone said. Employers will most likely exploit the ambiguities in an attempt to prevent the union from gaining jurisdiction over new jobs created by technology, he said.

To this end, the ILWU has established a "fighting fund," financed by assessments on its members, to cover the costs of any arbitration that takes place, Stallone said.

PMA President Joseph Miniace said employers will live up to the spirit of the contract, and they expect the ILWU to do the same. "We will not undermine or gimmick the contract," he said.

There was also some opposition to the contract from Local 10, the general longshore local in the San Francisco Bay area, which has a history of objecting to proposed contracts. On the other hand, representatives of Local 63 in Southern California, by far the largest clerks local in the union, voted unanimously to recommend approval of the contract to the membership.

The ILWU base wage will increase $3 over the life of the contract, or about 12 percent. "That's not a lot," Stallone said, but he added that the priorities of the union negotiators were to fully maintain the medical program, which is one of the best of any union in North America, and to significantly increase pension benefits.

Miniace said employers are pleased by the ILWU caucus' overwhelming support for the proposed contract. "It's good for the workers, it's good for the industry, it's good for all of America," he said.

Stallone said the caucus members will now distribute details of the contract to the membership and hold meetings to explain the terms of the agreement and answer questions in preparation for the coastwide vote next month.

The ILWU vote will be watched closely by other unions. Stallone said Richard Trumka, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, called the ILWU contract "the envy of all other unions" and he said it will have an impact on other labor contracts across the country.

By Bill Mongelluzzo