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Pasengers board a YRT bus Sept. 25, 2008.Aaron Vincent Elkaim for The Globe and Mail

Just days after voting down a contract offer, some York Region transit workers have apparently changed their minds, petitioning union leaders to let them vote again on the deal.

The about-face - the latest twist in a two-week-long negotiating saga between Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 and transit contractor Veolia Transportation - means a planned strike that would have shut down 24 bus routes in and around Vaughan Tuesday morning will not go ahead.

"This is an unusual situation," wrote Local 113 president Bob Kinnear in a prepared statement Monday. "But in view of the stakes for both our members and the public, and the large majority of members who signed the petition, we will conduct a re-vote on the settlement."

The vote will be held later this week.

The union refused further comment Tuesday, leaving the reason for the sudden reversal a mystery.

The tentative deal offers employees a more than 10.5-per-cent raise over the course of four years, four paid sick days per year, health insurance and an annual tool allowance for maintenance workers. Better wages and paid sick days had been among the union's key demands.

The 214 drivers and mechanics in question work in the southwest division, carrying about 28,000 daily riders. They joined the ATU 113, which also represents TTC employees, last summer.

The quest for their first collective agreement hit a snag earlier this month, when talks broke down and the union called for a Valentine's Day strike. A late-night bargaining session resulted in an 11th-hour deal.

Workers subsequently rejected the offer, sending the union back to the bargaining table. However, it said Veolia was not willing to offer further concessions and called a strike for Tuesday.

The company, however, said it wasn't clear what more the union wanted.

"There was nothing clear-cut that they could say was a sticking point," said spokeswoman Valerie Michael.

On Sunday, a majority of the membership gave the union a petition calling for a revote. Mr. Kinnear sent an automated phone message to them Monday asking them to show up for work Tuesday.

York's transit services are farmed out to several operators, including Veolia, a French company that also operates the region's Viva express bus service.

None of the other transit routes in the area - including Viva and the region's three GO Train services - are affected by the bargaining or potential strike.

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