On May 18, 2015, employees of Halifax Water arrived at their depot to find the doors locked. In response, workers hit the picket lines bright and early the next morning.
This lock out has come about after 14 months of bargaining has broken down between Halifax Water and Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Locals 1431 and 227, representing office and technical workers and outside workers respectively.
Under the current proposal put forward by Halifax Water, workers could lose up to 30 percent of their pension plan. According to Dave Dort, President of Local 227, the employer, “came to the table with a mandate of slashing our pension plan.”
On May 8 CUPE Locals 227 and 1431 held a joint news conference to talk the outstanding issues at the bargaining table:
The locked out workers are being subjected to intimidation on the picket line by AFIMAC Canada, a security company hired by Halifax Water: