Private defence attorneys in Manitoba are refusing to show up in court next week, as they try to sway the province to increase their pay.

About 150 defence lawyers will not be attending bail hearings for a week starting Monday.

The job action comes as tensions rise over legal aid pay rates, which have not increased in 12 years for private lawyers, despite the fact they handle the majority of the court cases in Manitoba.

Gerri Wiebe, president of the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association of Manitoba, told Julie Dupre on CBC Radio's Up To Speed that the group has been trying to negotiate a pay increase since May 2018, but have "exhausted every option" other than a walkout.

"We have been frustrated pretty much at every turn," Wiebe said Friday.

Clients contact their attorneys, who show up in bail court and "hopefully" come up with a bail schedule and application for their client, she explains.

There are five legal aid staff lawyers in Winnipeg's criminal duty counsel office. The walkout essentially puts the workload on them and their legal articling students, who typically handle between 30 and 40 per cent of the bails that come in each day, Wiebe says.

Gerri Wiebe, president of the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association of Manitoba, says the group just wants the provincial government to come back and discuss the future of legal aid delivery. (Bueti Wasyliw Wiebe)

The extra workload could create backlogs in the system, which means people will have to wait longer for bail hearings.

This is front of mind for the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association of Manitoba, says Wiebe, adding that this is why the job action has an end date of Jan. 17.

"We don't want to do job action on the backs of any particular people," she said.

"We're trying to balance the needs of our current clients versus our future clients, who will not be properly represented if we don't get a proper funding of legal aid going forward."

A spokesperson for the province said Manitoba Justice hasn't been formally notified by the private bar, but "we are aware they may be considering not participating in bail hearings as of Monday."

"We have spoken with Legal Aid Manitoba and they have a contingency plan in place to ensure clients can get the services they need," the spokesperson said in an email.

Wiebe notes the 150 lawyers want the province to come back and discuss the future of legal aid delivery in the province. She says the government has failed to do this.

"If the justice minister's office would phone me tonight and say this is the day we can sit down with you, that would be enough [to prevent the walkout]."

Private defence lawyers are paid a tariff rate for legal aid cases they decide to take on, which are set by provincial legislation and vary depending on the seriousness of each criminal case.

The tariff is based on an $80 per hour rate, and the regulation limits how many hours of work can be spent on a particular case.

The attorneys have not received a cost-of-living pay increase since their last strike in 2008, Wiebe said, even though the cost of living has gone up 17 per cent since then.