The machinists union has reached a tentative agreement with the buyers of Aloha Air Cargo, Aeko Kula, the newly formed Saltchuk Resources entity that is in the process of purchasing the cargo operations.

The new agreement reached Saturday night with the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Union calls for a four-year contract recognizing the union, providing wage protection for former Aloha Airlines employees selected by the new company and salary guidelines.

Specifics were not available until the union has briefed its members, spokesmen said.

The cargo division of the now defunct Aloha Airlines was shut down last Monday after its chief lender cut off funding. The airlines had ceased passenger operations on March 31 and had said it would be able to sell the cargo business. The cargo employees were rehired Friday and former senior vice president of Aloha's airline operations Mike Coffman was named president and chief executive officer of the newly named company called Aloha Air Cargo.

Aeko Kula is the newly formed Saltchuk Resources owned entity. Saltchuk is a Seattle-based company that is the parent of Young Brothers/Hawaiian Tug & Barge.