Kansas City, Mo. ? Sprint Corp. reached tentative deals with workers in five states who had threatened to walk off the job Tuesday if contract issues were not settled before an early afternoon deadline.

The strike would have affected about 2,700 local telephone employees in Florida, Indiana, Oregon, Tennessee and North Carolina who are represented by the union.

John Howard, assistant to the vice president for the Communications Workers of America telecommunications division, said the Overland Park, Kan.-based firm reached agreements Tuesday. Employees still must approve the deals.

One of the sticking points in several of the contracts had been a proposal that in certain cases would have allowed the company to lay off employees without regard to seniority, Howard said. Sprint withdrew that proposal.

The deadline for two other contracts still under negotiation in Missouri and Kansas is Jan. 31.