HALIFAX—Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB) is hoping a dispute between its commissionaires and their employer won’t lead to job action.

Talks have broken down between Commissionaires Nova Scotia (CNS), and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) Local 80375, which represents over 80 bridge and Halifax Regional Police workers employed by CNS.

A media release issued by the union on Tuesday said both parties are in a legal strike/lockout position as of Friday, May 31. This could mean a disruption to commuters crossing the bridges if a strike does take place.

“It’s a little too early in the process for us to understand exactly what service disruption a strike would be to commuters, but safe and efficient operations are our main priority,” Alison MacDonald, communications manager for HHB, said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Colleen Coffey, regional executive vice-president of PSAC, said in an interview Wednesday that a strike vote hasn’t taken place. She said they’re planning to wait until after the May 28 conciliation date, and will only call for a strike vote if they decide to refuse the offer on the table.

The dispute is centred around wage increases.

The wage increase offered to PSAC members is 10 cents per hour for the first year applied retroactively to April 1, 2018. The second year would see a 15 cents per hour increase applied retroactively to April 1, 2019. The union is asking for a one dollar per hour increase.

“As a not-for-profit organization with fixed contract revenue, we cannot afford the wage package of $1 per hour demanded by PSAC,” said CNS in an emailed statement attributed to chief executive Geoffrey Hamilton.

Coffey said the union wants to avoid a strike, but it isn’t opposed to taking action.

“If they lock them out, we will do what we do best, and that is we will disrupt. I mean people don’t like it, but that’s how we protect our members,” said Coffey.

At least 60 per cent of PSAC’s membership are military veterans, and most are seniors.

Current wages run between $13.04 an hour and $15.58 an hour, depending on the job. Both HBB and Halifax police contract their commissionaires from CNS, who in turn hire their commissionaires to fill these contracts.

The Commissionaires Nova Scotia website says commissionaires have provided services for the bridge since the 1955 opening of the Macdonald Bridge. Their duties include bridge patrol, emergency response and toll booth operations.

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