Ontario's provincial government has eked out a deal with the union that represents education workers, avoiding a strike deadline by just hours.
The province negotiated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees through the weekend in order to reach a collective agreement, bargaining until just hours before the midnight strike deadline.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce says the deal represented ``incremental success'' as contract talks with the major teachers unions continue.
The union says it was able to secure modest wage increases and maintain its existing sick leave plan _ a sticking point for the school trustees.
A strike would have seen 55,000 education workers take to the picket lines while hundreds of schools shut their doors.
At least two dozen school boards across the province _ including the three largest _ said they couldn't function without the CUPE workers, including custodians, early childhood educators and clerical staff.