Tri-Cities parents who rely on Simon Fraser University daycare services can breathe a sigh of relief and adjust their schedules back to normal.

Striking early childhood educators voted Thursday in favour of accepting a mediated settlement.

"The board and management of the Childcare Society are grateful to the families who have waited patiently," said Pat Frouws, executive director of SFU Childcare.

Frouws added that the board and management are hopeful that parents who made alternate child-care arrangements would consider returning….

Wages and child-care fees were sticking points between the two sides.

Momentum to settle the agreement built after the employer withdrew its demands for cuts to rights and benefits and a longer agreement, BCGEU bargaining chair Ursula Clark said in a news release.

The new, three-year agreement gives educators a $1,250 bonus in lieu of a wage increase in the first year and a 2.5-per-cent wage increase in each of the subsequent two years.

Pension benefits lost to funding cuts in 2003 have been partially restored as well, the news release stated.

"Our union is committed to achieving continued improvements in the child-care sector," said BCGEU president George Heyman.

The SFU Childcare Society operates independently from the university. The society runs 13 programs for children, and is funded primarily through parent user fees.