A strike by the driving examiners in Ontario province of Canada drags on to its 12th week as the workers rejected an offer from their employer this week.

The United Steelworkers Union Local 9511, which represents about 550 workers at 56 DriveTest locations, urged its members to refuse the latest offer from DriveTest. As a result, 78 percent of the workers said no to the proposal in a vote this week.

"We are very disappointed that our employees voted to reject our offer," Paul Dalglish, managing director of DriveTest, said in a statement on Thursday. "The last time the union presented a response to our offer it included at least ten brand new demands. That's not the way good faith bargaining is supposed to work."

The local union chief said striking workers will do their best to stop employees from entering test centers. Job security and seniority issues continue to be a sticking point.

The strike started on Aug. 21, and there are already some 30, 000 tests and re-certifications backlogged. DriveTest conducts 3, 000 examinations a week in Ontario normally.

The Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario organized a protest last week at Queen's Park, Toronto, demanding an end to the strike. Trucking and driving schools have been hit hard by the strike and are scrambling to stay afloat amid low enrollment numbers and sagging profits.

"These are people that have lost their jobs in the past in the manufacturing industry and they thought trucking would be a good career for them," said Gus Rahim, president of the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario. "Yet they come in only to find out there's another setback -- they cannot go for road tests."

Critics said that the government should be bringing to a conclusion of the strike. "People need the labor minister to assume the responsibility and the authority that he has to ensure that this doesn't continue to drag out, that people have an opportunity to take on the jobs for which they're trained," said Progressive Conservative Frank Klees.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said the government was encouraging both sides in the dispute to come to an agreement, but wouldn't get involved in the negotiations.