Ontario’s ICI-sector carpenters are back at work.

Union members voted more than 77 percent in favour of ratifying a proposed new collective agreement that was presented to them on May 27.

“We would like to thank our members for staying so strong on the picket line over the last few weeks,” said Mike Yorke, President and Director of Public Affairs and Innovation with the Carpenter’s District Council of Ontario, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. “In the long arc of the Carpenters Union history in Ontario over the last 140 years, it's always been the members that have determined the fate and the future, for themselves, their families and the next generation of workers. This strike and this result are in total alignment with that history.”

This province-wide agreement impacts 15,000 members in 14 locals throughout the province. The deal sees workers receiving raises of between 10 and 12.5 percent over the agreement’s three-year term.

Ratification required a so-called double majority, which means that a majority of members as well as a majority of the union’s 14 locals had to support the deal.

“This agreement recognizes the crisis of affordability in Ontario and ever rising cost of living,” said Rod Thompson, area manager of Local 93 in Ottawa. “The members fought for and achieved a better agreement by withdrawing their labour. Now it’s back to work.”

Most carpenters are expected to return to work as soon as May 30; some specific projects will need additional time to return to full production in the coming days.