HALIFAX - There is still no end in sight to the Metro Transit strike after talks broke off again early Thursday.
About 750 unionized Metro Transit employees parked their buses and ferries and hit the picket lines February 2, which has left transit users across the Halifax Regional Municipality scrambling to find alternative transportation.
The Amalgamated Transit Union and the city returned to the bargaining table armed with new offers Wednesday.
They negotiated throughout the day, although much of that time was spent apart while the two sides re-grouped to discuss the offers.
Around 7 p.m. Wednesday, union president Ken Wilson told reporters the talks were going "lousy" and the union walked away from the bargaining table just after 7 a.m. Thursday, nearly 24 hours after talks began.
In total, however, the two sides have only bargained face-to-face for roughly five hours and they remain fair apart.
Scheduling, specifically rostering, continues to be a major sticking point.
The city's negotiator refused comment but released a statement that blames the union and its wage demands for the impasse.
The city says the union is refusing to budge on its $8.8-million proposal, while HRM has countered with an offer worth $2.1-million.
"Getting back to the table and making real progress towards a solution will only happen if ATU is sincerely willing to work with HRM to find ways to be more efficient," says Metro Transit director Eddie Robar in a statement released Thursday. "Make no mistake: contrary to ATU's claims, it is about the money."
But Wilson says that's simply not the case.
"This has never been about money," he says. "This is about…well I don't know what this is about. Seems this employer needs to save money and we'll be on strike until they save that money maybe. Nothing more than political theatre and smoke and mirrors as it's been the whole time."
According to the statement released by the city, its latest proposal includes a lump sum payment equal to 2.5 per cent of wages in the first year, followed by increases of three per cent and two per cent.
It says the increases would be offset by wage restructuring for new employees and a type of scheduling known as rostering that would reduce excessive overtime costs by packaging work in week-long blocks, as well as through wage restructuring for incoming transit operators.
But the union has said that rostering is a deal-breaker.
"Let's keep in mind the employer has rostering on the table," says Wilson. "My membership has sent a message – rostering is a no-deal."
The latest union proposal contains wage increases of 2.5 per cent, 3 per cent, 2.75 per cent and no changes to the current scheduling practice, which allows transit operators to choose each shift they work in a week.
The city says this scheduling practice leads to 80-100 shifts per week that need to be filled largely with overtime and that wage restructuring for new operators was also rejected by the union.
