PORTAGE LAKE (AP) – Loggers and truckers have voted to end a 17-day work stoppage that was blamed for wood shortages at some Maine mills and to return to work at Irving Woodlands.

The 25-7 vote followed more than three hours of discussion Wednesday.

The woods workers said their return was subject to two conditions.

First, Irving must allow everyone who had a job on its woodlands prior to the work stoppage to come back to work.

Also, Gov. John Baldacci must agree not to veto legislation that, if passed, would allow loggers to form associations to bargain collectively with landowners. The bill is scheduled to come up in the House next week.

Truckers and loggers at the meeting were told that some mills may be forced to close because wood supplies have run out and that officials were blaming the woods workers for the shortage.

Following the vote, the results and stipulations were relayed to state Conservation Commissioner Patrick McGowan, who was asked to call Irving and Baldacci for their response.

The truckers and loggers, who planned to meet again Friday, said they would not return to work until their stipulations were met.

The vote came after Irving Woodlands officials notified truckers this week that they would have to sign contracts with the company or look elsewhere for work.

Truckers and loggers called the action “an ultimatum,” but a company official said the Canadian-based company needed answers for its customers.

“It’s not an ultimatum – we are asking them what their plans are,” Chuck Gadzik, Maine operations manager for Irving Woodlands, said prior to the vote. “We need trucks.”

The dispute began when workers formed the International Loggers Association and walked off the job. Truckers refused to sign a new contract offered by Irving; loggers, who usually negotiate new contracts in the spring, stopped work in solidarity with the truckers.

The workers were seeking 25 percent to 30 percent increases in logging and trucking rates and surcharge payments when diesel fuel costs rise above $1.45 per gallon. Irving initially offered a 10 percent increase in logging rates, a 12 percent increase in off-highway trucking rates and a 7 percent increase for highway trucking rates. The company offered a surcharge when diesel fuel reaches $1.55 per gallon. Last week, the company offered an additional 2 percent for every category if contractors agreed to participate in an efficiency-productivity program.

Irving Woodlands supplies wood fiber to about 30 mills. The company had 27 logging contractors and 40 to 50 trucking contractors before the work stoppage began. Many of the loggers and truckers are working, but for other landowners.