Some members of McGill's support staff stepped back onto campus Tuesday, returning to work for the first time since Sept. 1.

The 1,700 members voted Monday to ratify a new five-year contract and end the walkout.

Some staff members said they were apprehensive about how staff will re-integrate into the university after the acrimonious three-month strike.

"I'm a little mentally and physically drained, but I'm happy to be back at work," said account administrator Marlene Demers, who said she was greeted warmly by supervisors at the faculty of management.

The three-month walkout wasn't easy, said Demers.

"You were sad for some of the people. They got second jobs. A lot of them… used the hardship fund," she explained.

In addition, many non-unionized employees who were left behind had more responsibilities than they could handle.

"When it happened, it was bigger than we could imagine. The impact was huge," said administrative officer Terry Kaluta, who works in the physiology department. She and a colleague had to manage exams for more than 1,000 students.

"Counting the exams and sorting them afterwards – we spent a couple of nights here just sorting all that out."

While there's still a backlog, help is now on the way.

"We're so happy. It was almost a sigh. They're coming back, we miss them," said Kaluta.

Students said they were looking forward to finding out what 'normal' is like at McGill. The strike prevented some students from completing their work and financial services were delayed.

"All those things kind of have left a shadow over last semester, but overall I think it's been positive in terms of building community and getting people to think about what their place in the university is," said Joel Pedneault, SSMU's vice-president of external affairs.

Though there was some dissent in the new contract -- the vote by MUNACA members was 910 in favour and 353 against – Demers said it was time to return to the job.

"We didn't get everything we wanted. We fought hard, (but) they fought just as hard and I think we got a reasonable contract," she said.

The five-year collective agreement means a 2.2 per cent across-the-board wage increase in the first year, and annual across-the-board wage increases between 1.2 and 2.2 per cent until 2015.

Workers will also receive a 1 per cent retroactive raise from December 2010, and another 1.2 per cent retroactive hike from June 1, 2011.

The new agreement also means employees will now reach their maximum salary within 12 years of employment, with 3 per cent incremental increases per year. The previous contract meant workers waited 37 years to reach the salary ceiling.