Toronto's unionized outside workers have voted to ratify a deal with the city, and were to start returning to work at 12:01 a.m. on Friday.
CUPE Local 416 voted on the agreement Thursday, after a delay caused by a disagreement with the city over its back-to-work protocol.
"I'm proud to announce that by a large majority, our membership has decided to ratify a collective agreement for the next three years," president Mark Ferguson said Thursday evening in a joint appearance with Ann Dembinski, president of CUPE Local 79, which had ratified the deal on Wednesday.
When Ferguson showed up at the Ontario Federation of Labour building on Thursday morning, he received a hero's welcome from his membership. He preached a message of solidarity then, and he repeated the same message in the evening: "Our strength is our solidarity, there's no question."
The two unions went out on strike together on June 22, and vowed to return to work together.
As of 11:30 p.m., CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon said there were no pickets in sight at the Bermondsey transfer station.
City council is now expected to hold its own vote in a meeting that starts at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, finally ending a strike that has lasted for 39 days. But ahead of that vote, the city announced its cleanup plans.
"We expect the city and the temporary drop-off sites will be cleaned up by late Sunday," city manager Joe Pennachetti told a Thursday news conference.
No overtime will be paid except for garbage removal and for health-and-safety-related concerns. Even accounting for overtime, the cost would be less than if private contractors were used, he said.
The first job will be cleaning out 5,000 litter bins that haven't been emptied since June 22, he said, adding that crews will quickly get cracking on emptying the 26 temporary garbage dumps that sprung up around the city over the past six weeks.
Geoff Rathbone, general manager of solid waste services, described the dump cleanup as a "large and complex operation." Those dumps contain about 25,000 tonnes of garbage, he said.
"Our goals are to complete the removal of the waste by Sunday evening, to allow for the sites to return to normal operations, to support Caribana by quickly cleaning the sites on Lakeshore Boulevard ... and to resume home pickup on the first available day after city council ratifies the new deal, he said.
That means pickup will commence on Tuesday, he said.
Rathbone asked people to follow their collection calendar. They will be able to put out unlimited waste and recycling for the next four pickups, but the recycling should be in clear plastic bags, he said.
Those needing to get rid of garbage immediately have until 7 p.m. Friday to dispose of it at temporary dumps and transfer stations, he said. Five other temporary dumps will be open on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.:
- Herbert H. Carnegie Centennial Arean, 580 Finch Ave. W.
- Centennial Arena Community Centre, 1967 Ellesmere Rd.
- Scarborough Arena, 75 Birchmount Rd.
- Villiers St., between Saulter and Cherry Streets
- Wilket Creek/Sunnybrook Park, 1132 Leslie St.
The city also announced some news on the recreation front.
"I've also directed staff to expedite speedy resumption of the Island ferries to permit tourists to visit the islands on the weekend," Pennachetti said, adding the first ferries would sail at 6:30 a.m. Friday.
However, the first sailings will be on a reduced schedule.
City summer camps for children won't open until Aug. 10 while child daycare will commence on Tuesday. Swimming pools won't be ready until the middle of next week at the earliest.
Pennachetti said the city's detailed plan on resumption of services is posted on the city's website, Toronto.ca, and will be updated as necessary. People can also call Access Toronto at 416-338-0338.
Many of Toronto's public parks were turned into temporary dumping sites during the labour dispute, and are currently filled with mounds of rank trash, attracting rats, raccoons and other rodents.
All of the city's public parks have been unmowed, and city pools, day camps, daycare centres and community centres have been closed for the duration of the strike.
One of the key sticking points in the dispute was the union's sick day program. It afforded workers 18 sick days per year, and allowed unused days to be banked, saved up and cashed-out.
Under the terms of the new deal, the program will be grandfathered out for new employees, and existing workers will have the opportunity to cash out their sick-day bank, if they so choose.
The agreement also includes a 6 per cent raise over three years, for workers. However, the city said the total compensation increase will only be 5.6 per cent.
Ferguson told reporters if the city doesn't ratify the deal, it means going back to square one.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon, Tom Hayes and Michelle Dube
