HONOLULU -- The union representing hundreds of Hawaiian Electric employees on five islands reached a tentative agreement with management late Monday afternoon, just a few hours before a midnight strike deadline.

A representative of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local 1260 said union representatives and union negotiators met at union headquarters from mid-morning Monday until shortly before 5 p.m., when the bargaining session appeared to end.

IBEW Business Manager Lance Miyake said he could not release terms of the agreement until union members learn of the details and ratify the agreement. Ratification votes are set to be held on five islands next week.

A Hawaiian Electric statement confirmed the agreement, affecting about 1,280 workers for Hawaiian Electric on Oahu, Maui Electric on the three islands that comprise Maui County and Hawaii Electric Light Company on the Big Island.

But IBEW Business Manager Lance Miyake wasn't sounding too enthusiastic.

"It was a tough negotiations. And I don't know if it's a good contract. The members gotta decide on that," Miyake said.

"I don't think it's something that our members will jump up for joy for. But they need to decide one way or the other," he added.

During negotiations that began in September, the union had already agreed to get rid of a lucrative benefit its members received for 30 years: up to a 30 percent discount on their monthly power bills.

The union said it was fighting against management's proposal to move back the retirement age from 55 to 62. The union said many field workers encounter dangerous conditions, which older employees don't want to endure. It's unclear how that issue was decided at the bargaining table.

"The only thing I'm happy about is we do not have a work stoppage," Miyake said.

Last Thursday night, union members held a meeting to receive strike information packets from the union.

Hawaiian Electric management had said the company was prepared to operate the power system if its unionized workers went on strike. At total of 46 percent of Hawaiian Electric's employees are not unionized.