Well, Adam Vaughan was right. Interviewed by CP24 shortly after CUPE local 416 president Mark Ferguson announced that the City had offered his union a take-it-or-leave-it offer on Friday, Vaughan speculated that the two sides might be a lot closer to a deal than they were letting on. That seemed a dubious observation when the City announced that it would impose new terms and conditions of employment as of 12:01 a.m Sunday., at which point the a lockout or strike could legally begin.

When negotiations pushed passed the deadline, there was, however, some hope that a deal would be reached. The announcement of the tentative settlement broke at around 8:30 a.m. this morning.

The terms of the deal won't be released until its ratified by union members and approved by city council, both of which are expected to take place by Monday. As such, it's not yet possible to determine who "won," per se — but both sides sounded relatively upbeat about having hammered out a deal. "Throughout the process we have provided the City with many efficiencies and creative solutions to extremely difficult problems. There is no doubt that our members are making sacrifices," Ferguson said in a statement this morning.

For a sample of the City's early reaction, here's a press release that was sent out shortly after the working framwork had been reached. We'll provide an update when more info about the deal comes to light.

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As of 8 a.m. this morning, the City of Toronto has reached a tentative agreement with the Toronto Civic Employees' Union Local 416 (CUPE), which represents the City's 6,000 outside workers and paramedics.

"I'm pleased that we have been able to reach an agreement that is fair for the employees and reasonable and affordable for the taxpayers of Toronto," said Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday. "Better yet, we will be better positioned to deliver efficient services to the residents and businesses of Toronto."

Deputy Mayor Holyday thanked the City's bargaining team for their hard work and long hours in negotiating an agreement that will help move the City of Toronto forward, and also acknowledged the Local 416 bargaining team for their willingness to negotiate at the bargaining table rather than taking job action that would deprive residents of important City services.

Details of the agreement will be released once it is ratified by the Local 416 membership and subsequently approved by City Council.

City services and programs continue as usual.

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Photo by Oscar Strawczynski in the blogTO Flickr pool