TC workers and the city's transit operator have, at the last moment, reached a tentative settlement today. This means averting the strike that had been slated to begin tomorrow (Monday, April 21) that would have disrupted a system that provides 1.5 million daily rides in Canada's business capital.

"We have reached a tentative agreement,'' Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 President Bob Kinnear said in a televised news conference. "There will be service tomorrow." TTC's statement

It will be streetcars, subways and buses as per usual on Monday for Toronto commuters, with the threatened strike by 8,900 unionized Toronto transit drivers and maintenance workers has been averted. Kinnear had said if a deal wasn't reached by then, the system would be shut down Monday morning.

The city had been awaiting the outcome, after a 4 p.m. deadline for an agreement between the Toronto Transit Commission and Amalgamated Transit Union local 113 passed. But at 6:00pm, union chief Bob Kinnear announced that his union "can live with" a tentative deal reached with the city to avoid a strike.

A strike would have disrupted service on subways, streetcars and buses that serve the area's 5.5 million people. On a typical weekday about 1.5 million people ride the TTC.

Toronto Mayor David Miller, who cut short a trade trip in China to be in town should there have been a strike, said he wouldn't get involved in the talks despite the urging of the union. Details of the settlement will not be released until after ratification, but the TTC believes the settlement is a fair and reasonable one for its workers, and good for the people of Toronto.

The benefits sought included improvements in life insurance and dental coverage, as well as shift premiums and a skill trade allowance, boosting pay rates of highly-skilled staff.