Contract talks to end at five month strike at Windsor Salt are heading to mediation.
Unifor Local 240 President Jodi Nesbitt has confirmed the sides are meeting with a mediator this week in Toronto.
The strike started on February 17 after nearly 250 unionized workers walked off the job to back contract demands.
They're represented by Local 240 and Local 1959.
Since the end of April, the two sides were meeting virtually but according to the company, talks collapsed in late June.
Meantime, ward one city councillor Fred Francis would like to see an end to the strike.
He says he usually doesn't get involved in contract talks but says the strike has been going on for five months and many of the striking workers live in his ward.
"I've talked to a number of workers, a lot of them are residents of mine in ward one and I certainly feel badly for them," he says. "I know it's not an easy thing to do what they're doing and my heart goes out to them."
Francis says everyone wants to see the strike come to an end sooner whether than later.
"To see a strike today gone on since February going into July, August now is somewhat disheartening," says Francis. "My hope is that they would have been able to reach an agreement by now. I think the sooner a fair agreement could be reached and people can get back to work, I think the better."
When talks collapsed, the company said it offered the union significant pay increases over the life of the proposed agreement.
The company also stated it offered significant bonus opportunities, various wage premium increases, and maintenance of regular cost-of-living wage adjustments as a hedge against inflation.
The union held a rally outside of city hall after the talks broke down.
Unifor National President Lana Payne was in attendance along with some city councillors, Windsor West MP Lisa Gretzky and Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie.