Striking Greyhound Canada employees reached a tentative agreement late Wednesday, but the walkout is expected to continue until a ratification vote is held.

"We are pleased that the company and the union were able to resolve the main issues under the contract, and hope that our represented employees will embrace this agreement,'' Brad Shephard, senior vice-president of Greyhound Canada, said in a news release.

Passenger and parcel services in Western Canada were suspended last week when nearly 1,200 employees walked off the job.

Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union are expected to vote on the deal Friday.

"We know that this has been a difficult time for everyone affected by the service disruption. This agreement is a significant step toward resuming normal operations and ticket sales in Western Canada, and we look forward to earning back our customers' business,'' Shephard said.

The company said operations in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as well as service between Winnipeg and Toronto, and Winnipeg and Ottawa would remain suspended until the vote is held.

Details of the agreement will not be released until they are presented to union members.

Services in southern Ontario and Vancouver Island with Island Coach Lines were not affected by the strike.

The striking motor coach drivers, mechanics, ticket handlers, bus loaders, terminal maintenance and courier parcel staff are protesting what the union calls the Americanization of the company, which has cost about 360 Canadians jobs.

The union had argued that ever since Laidlaw took over the company in 1997, the majority of power was shifted to the U.S.

As a result, the union argued the quality of life has suffered for unionized Canadian workers.

The union gave the company 72-hour strike notice last Monday, calling for better wages and working conditions.

The executive board representative for striking workers in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario, said employees would immediately leave the picket lines and be back on the buses -- should an emergency situation arise.

"If there were to be some emergency, say a forest fire up north and a community had to be evacuated, we'd definitely be there and get them out,'' Eric Carr said.

"We want the public to know that in an emergency, we'd get the buses rolling for sure.''

Union boss Jim Higgs said he was confident the strike wouldn't affect customer faith in the company.

"We're not bad-mouthing the organization because we believe we can work together to make it the best possible company on Earth,'' he said.

Higgs could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Greyhound Canada employs more than 2,500 people nationwide in 24 locations across the country.

With files from the Canadian Press