Tens of thousands of public transit users in the region's largest city were watching with great interest late Wednesday evening as the two sides in an ongoing dispute staged last minute talks to avert a strike.
Workers at Metro Transit were prepared to walk off the job at midnight.
However, in a surprise move just before 11:30 PM, the city summoned the union back to the table.
Union Vice President Shane O'Leary told drivers there would be no walkout while talks continued.
It was a much different situation earlier in the day, when a strike seemed inevitable.
Talks continued for several hours Wednesday afternoon, but broke off in the early evening when the union walked away from the table.
The biggest issue in the dispute has been a scheduling arrangement called rostering: senior drivers are allowed to pick their own shifts, but the city would like to put an end to the practice.
"Because of the way they pick their work now, we end of with 87 to 100 pieces of work in a week that we are unable to cover with the people we have, so we end up having to call people in on OT on a daily basis", Eddie Robar, Metro Transit Director told CTV News.
"For us it's operationally infeasible."
Drivers see things differently.
"It's quality of life" said Ken Wilson, President of the Amalgamated Transit Union.'
"We have the highest divorce rate in the HRM. We work 12 hours a day for eight hours pay. We're the first to get up and last to go home. For 104 years we've always picked our work and for some reason they want to change it."
"If it's not broke don't fix it."
The mayor of the municipality says the current system is badly-broken.
In an interview with CTV's Steve Murphy Wednesday evening, Peter Kelly insisted rostering has lead to a highly inefficient organizational structure, and no-one's tried to change it until now.
"We have about 70 drivers who have to call in to see when they're going to work every day", Kelly said.
"We have to do what's best for the taxpayer."
Nearly a 95-thousand people ride Metro Transit's buses and ferries on an average workday, and the threat of a work-stoppage has left many scrambling to make alternate arrangements.
Car-pooling services have seen a dramatic increase in demand, and commuters have been looking for and offering rides on social media and auction sites.
Some regular riders have even pulled out bicycles, which they didn't expect to use until summer.
The union had been organizing a rally for Thursday morning, hoping to gain support from commuters and the general public.
There was no word how talks were progressing after midnight.
