The City of Toronto has reached a tentative contract deal with more than 20,000 inside city workers, averting a possible work stoppage amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

The deal was announced on Saturday morning at 12:15 a.m. by CUPE Local 79 and includes 90 per cent of public health staff who have been administering coronavirus tests and other tasks in the effort to curb the spread of the disease in Toronto.

CUPE Local 79 said in a press release early Saturday that “negotiators reached the tentative agreement following several days of round-the-clock bargaining ahead of a deadline of 12:01 a.m. this morning.”

The agreement ends months of negotiations and a stalemate that could have triggered a strike by inside workers, or a lockout of them, by the city as of 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Their previous contract expired Dec. 31.

The city sent out a press release of their own, writing that “after more than three months of collective bargaining, including the last week as COVID-19 escalated to a global pandemic, the City of Toronto and CUPE Local 79 have reached a tentative agreement and avoided a labour disruption.”

“The five-year agreement is fair to Toronto residents and Local 79 workers,” reads the city’s release.

The contract won’t be official until union members and city council approve it.

The news is a huge relief for Mayor John Tory and other city officials taking unprecedented measures to protect Torontonians from the coronavirus pandemic.

“After three months of negotiations, I am pleased that the City has reached a tentative agreement with CUPE Local 79, in particular given the important role that many of our employees play as the city works through the COVID-19 pandemic,” Tory said in a statement Saturday.

A work stoppage would have curtailed many city services. However, anti-COVID-19 measures announced Friday, including closure of recreation facilities and cancellation of March break camps, would have blunted the impact of a walkout.

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