Negotiations between the Canadian Red Cross and union representing 3,200 Ontario personal support workers resume on Monday.
The second round of talks between the Red Cross and Service Employees International Union broke down on July 31.
"At this point we're pretty confident we will have a renewed contract," said Red Cross spokesperson Leianne Musselman.
The union wants the workers to be paid for the time they travel from home to home and is seeking an increase in their mileage rate. "We're not backing down from (those issues)," said negotiator Cathy Carroll.
The collective agreement (contract) between the employer and union expired on July 31. "The workers are committed to continuing their regular work in their communities," Carroll said at the time.
After the first round of negotiations broke down in June, 88 per cent of the workers voted to go on strike if they couldn't get a better deal.
Personal support workers do some of the most physically challenging work
in the health care industry - bathing the elderly and disabled, changing diapers for the incontinent and keeping people's arms and legs mobile.
They work with clients in their homes, often enabling elderly people, many with dementia, to stay at home longer.
Recently, the Ontario government said it was going to fund more hours for home care in an effort to mitigate the alternate level of care crisis playing out in hospitals.
