After being on the picket line for almost three months, employees from Manitoba Public Insurance will return to the office.

On Wednesday, MPI announced they will begin restoring full services for customers across the province on Friday, following the ratification of a new collective agreement with the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union.

MGEU said in a release that members from Manitoba Public Insurance voted overwhelmingly to accept the tentative agreement. 

The new collective agreement will provide all MPI members with wage increases of at least 13 percent over four years.

“It’s been a tough round of bargaining and strike action stretching from summer into fall," said MGEU President, Kyle Ross. "But our members stood their ground to achieve the fairness they deserved all along.” 

Other highlights of the agreement include a one-time, lump-sum signing bonus of $1,800 per full-time employee. Members will also receive two weeks Recognition Pay to acknowledge the more than three weeks of the strike during which no negotiations were possible as a result of the government transition process.

“Our members are keen to get back to work helping Manitobans,” Ross added. “We ask the public to have patience with members as they work to ramp up services.”

"We are incredibly pleased to have our full team returning to work on Friday and are just as eager to begin the process of scheduling appointments that were cancelled, discontinued or limited during the labour interruption," said Carmen Nedohin, MPI Board Chair.

MGEU and MPI are working to finalize a return-to-work agreement.

With plans to have employees back on Friday, MPI locations will reopen to the public at 1 p.m., with the majority of regular services available.