Ottawa/IBNS: A tentative four-year deal was reached last night between the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and more than 35,000 Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)'s Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) members ending a second strike of federal public servants just after the tax season wrapped up.

According to two separate Thursday morning news releases of CRA and PSAC's UTE, the four-year deal requires the workers to report back to their jobs by 11:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

UTE workers, including about 120,000 other PSAC workers across about 30 government departments and agencies -- had been without a deal since 2021 -- went on strike April 19.

In a statement, PSAC said the tentative deal includes wage increases totalling 12.6 percent compounded over the life of the agreement from 2021-2024, as well as an additional fourth year in the agreement that protects workers from inflation including a pensionable $2,500 one-time lump sum payment that represents an additional 3.6 per cent of salary for the average member.

According to CRA's news release, a tentative settlement on telework outside of the collective agreement was reached between CRA and PSAC with both agreeing to review the directive on virtual work arrangements, and to create a panel to advise the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner regarding employee concerns.

When asked on Wednesday if there would be disruptions in the federal Liberals' convention set to run from May 4-6 at the Shaw Centre in downtown Ottawa, Chris Aylward, PSAC national president was reported saying that in the absence of any progress in negotiations, striking workers would be present.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)