THE lockout of NABET workers at ABC is over.

After 10 weeks on the picket line, NABET members who work at ABC are getting ready to return to their jobs by Monday and can expect to vote on a new labor contract within a few weeks.

NABET negotiators and network officials reached an agreement Friday afternoon that will allow more than 2,400 technical and administrative workers back to work.

“The company and the union have at last been able to work out a way for our NABET represented employees to return to work,” said ABC spokeswoman Julie Hoover. “They will now have an opportunity over the next few weeks to vote on a unit-by-unit basis on ratifying our final contract proposal.”

NABET, the National Association of Broadcast and Electrical Technicians, had been working without a labor agreement for close to two years. They were locked out of their jobs Nov. 2, after the union had called a 24-hour surprise strike against the network to protest a health care plan.

Officials later said that part of the reason for the strike was to move negotiations for a new labor contract along.

“There was a breakthrough this morning that put us over the speed bump,” said NABET spokesman Tom Donahue, referring to the network’s agreement to allow arbitration on several cases of workers who were fired during the lockout. The workers, who were fired for various offenses while picketing will have their cases heard before the contract it voted on by the union.