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TORONTO — Following an 18 day strike, support staff at Ontario’s community colleges will return to work after the group reached a tentative agreement late Sunday night.

About eight thousand OPSEU support staff, including administration and maintenance workers, should be back to the province’s 24 colleges this Tuesday.

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Details about the deal struck between the group’s union and the colleges will not be available until after a ratification vote, which has not been scheduled yet.

“We are very pleased that we reached a negotiated settlement. We look forward to welcoming all of our valued employees back to the colleges where we can again work together for the success of our students,” Gerry Barker, chair of the colleges’ bargaining team, wrote in a statement that was released just before midnight Monday.

The settlement was reached after two days of bargaining. The workers walked off the job days before the new school year began, disrupting classes, services and transportation for students heading to the campuses.

The union had estimated that 500,000 college students were affected by the “unnecessary” strike.

Support staff at the colleges last went on strike 32 years ago in 1979.