Negotiators have secured a tentative new agreement for Ontario's 7,000 college support workers, averting a potential strike that could have compromised the start of classes.
Details of the new agreement were not immediately available. However, the workers had been seeking a four per cent wage increase to match the one recently given to college faculty members.
A vote to ratify the deal will be held "in the near future," according to a news release issued by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.
The OPSEU held meetings all weekend with the Colleges Compensation and Appointments Council in an attempt to avoid a strike.
The previous deal expired Sunday and workers were prepared to go on strike Monday.
The work stoppage would have affected students at the province's 24 colleges.
In July, 69 per cent of union members voted in favour of a strike, while nearly 80 per cent voted to reject the previous contract offer. That offer reportedly contained a wage increase of three per cent.
