The city and CUPE Local 500 say a tentative deal has been reached Tuesday night which will put planned strike action for thousands of city workers on pause.
CUPE Local 500 had planned to walk out just after midnight if it didn’t get a contract.
The union says the tentative deal will be presented to CUPE Local 500 members in ratification meetings scheduled for the coming weeks.
It came after the union said it reached a tentative agreement with the city on Monday but the city said earlier Tuesday no such deal was made.
CUPE doubled down, saying a tentative agreement was reached through a conciliator and it is shocked the city CAO would contradict that.
“We are not happy with the way the City handled this process, but are relieved that we have a package to review prior to bringing it to our members for their vote,” CUPE Local 500 president Gord Delbridge said in a statement Tuesday night.
The city says in a statement it will not release details of the settlement at this time, and if approved by CUPE’s membership, the settlement will be presented to council for its consideration.
The city and CUPE have been in negotiations since March 10, 2021. The previous contract expired on Feb. 28, 2021.