TORONTO - Ontario's driving examiners could be back on the job in early January after apparently reaching an agreement with their employer on the weekend.
An email sent to certain media outlets Saturday, and reported on by CTV, said the two sides had negotiated an end to the four-month work stoppage.
The strike has prevented many Ontarians from getting new drivers' licenses or renewals since August.
The email said details of the yet-to-be-ratified deal were still "confidential," CTV reported.
Some 590 DriveTest employees walked off the job Aug. 21 after talks broke off with their employer, Serco DES Inc.
The main sticking points between the two sides included wages, benefits, and a proposal to increase the number of part-time employees at the expense of full-time jobs.
The strike affected 93 full-time and part-time DriveTest sites, which grant or renew licenses to novice drivers and those over 80. In November and December, non-striking managers opened 12 centres so that commercial drivers could get their licenses for work purposes.
The province contracted out driver testing in 2003 to Serco DES in a 10-year deal.
Robert Woollard, an instructor at Kawartha Driver Training in Peterborough, said he was "just pumped" to hear the two sides had apparently reached an agreement.
The strike, Woollard said, has left some 400,000 road tests on the backburner across Ontario.
"We've just had to kind of sit by. I have a lot of students who are looking to do road tests, and can't get them done. Financially, it's really hurt everyone's businesses," Woollard told a local radio station.
If ratified, full service at the centres would likely resume Jan. 5.
The union had previously rejected an offer in November.
