A strike by Winnipeg Transit drivers has been averted after workers voted to approve the city's latest contract offer.

The offer — reached last week by union leaders and management — was approved Wednesday by 57 per cent of the members of the Amalgamated Transit Union workers who voted.

A city-wide strike was set to begin Thursday morning had a deal not been reached, affecting some 130,000 transit users. A strike would have been the first for the city's transit system in more than 30 years. That strike, in the winter of 1976, lasted 1½ months.

The agreement will see drivers and maintenance workers receive general salary increases of two per cent this year, 2.2 per cent next year and three per cent in 2010.

The starting rate for bus drivers is currently $14.63 an hour, ranging up to a maximum of $22.01 an hour after five years of employment.

Some drivers had said working conditions — not pay — were at the root of the dispute. The new contract would see the controversial matter of Sunday shifts for drivers referred to arbitration.

The union's membership had rejected two previous offers. In late July, the union told its members to refuse overtime, forcing the city to cut 15 to 20 transit buses per day, affecting mostly morning rush-hour service for several days.

On Aug. 6, a special meeting of Winnipeg city council ratified a new settlement with the union.

Initially, union leadership did not believe the contract required a membership vote for ratification, but they later learned a vote was required.

With files from the Canadian Press