Buses back on the roads Thursday as GRT workers approve new contract with Region of Waterloo

Striking Grand River Transit workers have accepted an agreement with the Region of Waterloo.

All offerings — including bus, Mobility Plus and customer service centres — will reopen and resume service on Thursday. 

The region says as a gesture to customers, fares won't be collected from May 11 to May 22 on the entire GRT network, which includes buses, Mobility Plus and the Ion LRT. 

Anyone who purchased a monthly pass for May will see a June pass automatically added to their EasyGo card. People who use Mobility Plus will either have to go to a customer service office to make those arrangements or designate someone else to do so. 

9-day bus strike

Transit workers, including drivers, mechanics and attendants, have been off the job since May 1 after an initial tentative agreement was reached, but rejected in a vote on April 30. 

A picket had been set up in front of the region's headquarters in Kitchener.

Talks broke off after the vote on April 30, but resumed on Thursday morning. The union and region continued talks through the weekend, and the region announced Monday afternoon that a new agreement had been reached. 

The region said the union met with its members on Tuesday to submit the tentative agreement for ratification.

Brendan Burke, president of Unifor Local 4304, previously said the two biggest issues have been "scheduling work-life balance and wages." He would not go into detail about the size of the wage increase the union had asked for on behalf of workers.