SEIU Local 2 Members at the Bridge in Dartmouth Ratify First Union Contract

Shelter workers win some of highest wages in the sector across all the Atlantic provinces

DARTMOUTH, Nova Scotia, Oct. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Over 130 workers at the Bridge by Adsum, the largest housing shelter in Atlantic Canada, have won their first Union contract. The Bridge workers will now have some of the highest wages in the sector across all the Atlantic provinces, an overnight shift premium of $1.50 per hour, retro pay to their Union certification, additional paid sicks days, a pension plan starting January 2027, and more. A tentative agreement was reached on October 10, after months of negotiations which followed months of delays by the employer. The workers ratified the contact on Monday October 20.

“Ratifying this first contract means I can finally earn a wage I can live on and take the time I need when I or my kids get sick,” said Terri Ayles, a full-time Client Support Worker at the Bridge. She has two kids and works three jobs to make ends meet. “It’s about having the security to care for my family and not having to choose between a paycheck and our health.”

“I have been through inferiority and discrimination after coming to Canada as an immigrant and a person of color,” said Veronica Warris, a full-time overnight Client Support Worker at the shelter. Warris was member of the Union’s bargaining committee. “Not only was I treated as an equal in the union, but my concerns were heard, valued, and even implemented in the process. I am so happy that I made the decision to join the union … the night premium and other benefits for us in this new contract … [are] a wonderful achievement."

Workers started talking about forming a Union at the Bridge between late 2023 and early 2024. They believed they needed a voice at the workplace, fair scheduling, better health benefits that covered their families, and more paid time off. If these areas of the working conditions did not improve, they believed the Bridge would continue to suffer high burnout and turnover rates – and that was not just bad for workers, it was also a disservice to the community they serve.

"The current housing system, both in Halifax and across Canada, is structured such that those with the most power also benefit the most,” explained Kat Daly a part-time Client Support Worker at the Bridge and a PhD student with a housing justice thesis. “The most marginalized members of our communities are facing a complete lack of safe, stable and affordable housing. Shelter workers are absolutely critical to pushing back against this system; we regularly voice our opposition to this kind of systemic oppression and we have the knowledge and skills to support the most vulnerable members of our own communities."

BACKGROUND

Workers voted to join the Union by a landslide in June of 2024 with 98% choosing to join SEIU Local 2. However, the ballot box remained sealed at the Labour Board until March 2025 because employer objections unfairly held up the count of the votes.

In February 2025, they held a rally outside the Nova Scotia Labour Board that was attended by over one hundred community supporters. A Labour Board hearing had taken place in October 2024 to resolve the employer’s objections and get the votes counted. Workers had expected an outcome by mid-January, but they were still waiting for a board decision on February 19, the day of the rally. Adsum bosses put up a long legal fight to exclude casuals from gaining union rights, but after nine months of Labour Board delays, the ballots were counted and workers, including casuals, had their Union.

Negotiations for a first contract were also mired in delays. In the summer the Union filed for conciliation because the employer had not provided an offer or a response to SEIU’s monetary proposals. Following the conciliation session on August 7, the conciliator confirmed and deemed the Parties to had reached an impasse. The Union’s bargaining committee was provided with a strike mandate via a membership vote on September 15.

SEIU Local 2 represents a sizeable portion of the Halifax Regional Municipality shelter worker sector, including staff at Welcome Housing, Out of the Cold, and Shelter Nova Scotia. In fact, the Union represents many community service workers like the staff at Avalon Sexual Assault Centre, and Youth Project in Halifax, and workers in Ontario including Participation House in Markham, Tropicana Community Services in Scarborough, Street Haven at the Crossroads in Toronto, the Immigrants Working Centre in Hamilton, and several Salvation Army locations just to name a few.

SEIU Local 2 represents 20,000 workers in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba. We are proud members of the largest, fastest growing and most dynamic union in North America.

Contact info:

Diego Mendez
+14164767762
dmendez@seiulocal2.ca

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