The grievance hearing is over, and the 21 city public works employees who made headlines over time theft and breach of trust are waiting to see if they’ll get their jobs back.

The hearing wrapped up on Wednesday, said Sandra Walker, president of CUPE local 5167. Now the workers wait until at least April to find out if the arbitrator rules on whether they should return to work.

“It’s just a waiting game now,” Walker said.

The city disciplined 25 city workers in 2013 — 21 were fired and four suspended — after an extensive investigation that included GPS video surveillance.

In some cases, the city says, they were only doing half a day’s work. The city also investigated the workers regarding some missing asphalt.

Arbitrator Lorne Slotnick heard arguments from CUPE and the city during nearly 50 days of hearings at the Sheraton.

Slotnick is ruling on each case individually. He told CBC Hamilton in January that he won’t have a decision until at least April.

There is “an enormous amount of material to look at,” he said.

“It’s a very complicated case.”

The fired employees are asking for reinstatement. Slotnick can rule that the city decision stays, or that the workers be reinstated. He also has the power to rule on back pay or punitive damages, although the union hasn’t specified that it’s seeking that.

The union argues, among other things, that the city’s claims and documentation are inconsistent. In some cases, it says, the claims of hours worked are inconsistent with information such as GPS records and pothole sheets.

About 30 witnesses have testified in the hearing, including the 25 disciplined workers.

The city initially fired 29 workers, but reinstated some of them.

It's been an expensive endeavour for the city, which spent $499,898 on grievances in the public works department in 2013. A large portion of that was spent on the incident involving the 29 workers, said Lora Fontana, director of employee and labour relations, last March.

The union is also planning a grievance hearing for two roads workers who were fired for bringing a pot-laced brownie to work. A co-worker ate it and fell ill.