About 300 cleaners could go on strike next week in Halifax
Posted Jan 20, 2025 03:35:34 PM.
Last Updated Jan 20, 2025 03:58:38 PM.
Halifax could soon see its first-ever large-scale private sector janitorial strike as early as next week.
Some 300 unionized workers are poised to walk off the job on Monday should talks set for the end of this week fail to produce a new contract. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2 represents the 300 workers who have been without a deal since September 2024.
The union says salaries are one of the major stumbling blocks in negotiations, adding that cleaners it represents in HRM make between $15.60 and $16.45 an hour.
The workers are also looking for improvements in health benefits, protections against unfair workloads and subcontracting along with retirement security.
According to the union, GDI Integrated Facility Services, the employer, hasn’t responded to the union’s proposals for the last two negotiating meetings including the first go-around with a conciliator.
The cleaners work at nearly fifty properties in Halifax, including the ferry terminals, commercial offices like Purdys Wharf, malls like the Halifax Shopping Centre and Mic Mac Mall, and government properties including the RCMP headquarters in Dartmouth.
