Members of the Canadian Media Guild have voted 88.4% in favour of ratification of the new collective agreement.

A total of 3514 Guild members from across the country cast ballots; of those, 3106 voted yes; 394 voted against the deal. 14 other ballots were either spoiled or challenged and not accepted.

The ratification officially puts an end to the lockout which began nearly two months ago.

“This kind of support shows that the membership believes we’ve succeeded in pushing the CBC back from its demand to de-stabilize our workforce. We have established that the CBC will use permanent employees for its ongoing activities,” says the Guild’s CBC Branch president Arnold Amber.

Amber adds: “Many people have talked about how the events of the past eight weeks have helped bring Guild members together in a new way. I think that’s reflected in the high voter turnout.”

The majority of Guild members will be returning to work as of Tuesday, October 11. It is expected to be several days before CBC programming returns to normal.