Lockout of Bathurst city employees is over

The City of Bathurst and its unionized employees, who have been in a contract dispute for the past two months, have reached an agreement.

Salary was the last issue to settle, said Guy DeSilva, the president of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1282.

The city "placed an offer of 1.6 per cent for five years, which gives eight per cent to the total," he told Radio-Canada. "We took a vote and it was accepted by the majority."

The last collective agreement between the two parties expired on Dec. 31, 2016. The city locked out 22 administrative employees on July 25, after 20 months of negotiations.

"We certainly had a little less than we asked for," said DeSilva. "We wanted more or less the cost of living. We had a little less than that. We also made gains in other places in the contract monetarily."

Bathurst Mayor Paolo Fongemie hoped it will be business as usual on Monday.

But the process for the return to work still needs to be confirmed, according to DeSilva.

"We have not discussed yet when we are going back to work," he said. "There will be a return protocol to be established."

On Friday afternoon, the city announced a special public council meeting will be held Monday at 6:30 p.m. to deal with a proposed resolution accepting the new contract.