It had been 36 long days for residents of Toronto.
Those of us who needed the city-run day cares, summer camps, licensing department, ferries, and of course, garbage pick-up, were entering our sixth week without public services.
On Thursday, Mayor David Miller responded to criticism over the length of the strike, and the controversial sick bank provision.
"Two weeks ago, both union locals were saying they wanted parity with the police, which was, when you include benefit increases, almost 12 per cent over three years.
"Both of them were saying they wouldn't even discuss the sick bank," he argued on
Breakfast Television.
With this new agreement, the cost to the city increases by about six per cent over three years, a number Miller said was affordable for cash-strapped Toronto.
The liability of the sick bank is $40 million, he added. New union members will not be allowed to bank sick days, but employees already represented by either of the locals will get to keep the plan that existed before the strike.
On Wednesday, CUPE Local 79 ratified an agreement with the city. But those 18,000 inside employees won't head back to work until Local 416 members vote on their agreement.
The 6,000 outdoor workers will cast their ballots on Thursday, and services - like cleaning up the streets - could resume as early as 12:01am on Friday.
If city council ratifies the agreement, the temporary dump sites that have plagued residents will also be cleared away. They'll vote at special 9:30am meeting.
Miller admitted that he couldn't guarantee it would pass a vote at council, but he was hopeful the measure would pass.
"It would be irresponsible if they didn't support this agreement," he said.
"We offered a buyout originally. The unions negotiated a grand-parenting choice or a buyout. That saves us a little bit of money now, because the buyout is expensive and we would have had to pay it upfront.
"The second thing is, there's about 5,000 members of these locals who are over 55. They're going to be gone very quickly and all of the people who replace them will be on the short-term disability plan."
Watch the full interview here.