Outdoor city workers struck a tentative deal Monday with Canada's biggest city after a five-week strike that has raised a big stink with a halt to garbage collection.
"We have the basis for a deal," said Mark Ferguson, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 416, which represents 6,200 workers in Toronto.
However, he cautioned, the strike would only end once the city had reached a similar agreement with another union representing some 18,000 office workers.
"We believe we are close to a negotiated settlement," said Ann Dembinski, president of CUPE Local 79.
Toronto's 24,000 city workers went on strike on June 22 to protest the city's intent to revise a collective contract that expired on December 31.
The dispute centered on a policy allowing workers to accumulate unused sick days and get paid for them when they retire, which the city has said was too expensive.
"It's a fair deal. Compromises were made but at the end of the day, we have a deal that we're proud of," Ferguson told reporters while declining to reveal the terms of the agreement.
During the tourist season, Toronto's garbage bins are overflowing. With no trash pickup, the city set up temporary dumps in public parks and parking lots where residents could toss their garbage.
Pools were also closed across the city during the strike.
If an agreement is reached with CUPE Local 79, trash collectors could get back to work Thursday, Ferguson said.
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