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HALIFAX – School crossing guards across the HRM are considering become unionized.

The group of about 140 part-time workers who staff crosswalks at schools and street corners from one end of HRM to the other, are meeting next week with Canada’s largest union – the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

CUPE National Representative John Evans says, “We were approached by this group who have a number of workplace issues, after they found out that we represent crossing guards in Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM).

The CBRM group enjoys significantly better working conditions and wages, and that has caught the Halifax group’s attention,” says Evans.

Everyone acknowledges that these men and women perform a critically important service, and are out there in all kinds of weather. But they tend to be overlooked when it comes to things like fair compensation, health benefits and so on,” he says.

CUPE has set up three information meetings across Metro for next week:

  • Monday, October 16 at the UFCW Training Centre, 6331 Lady Hammond Rd. in Halifax at 7:00 pm
  • Tuesday, October 17 at the Sackville Sports Stadium, 409 Glendale Dr. in Lower Sackville at 7:00 pm
  • Wednesday, October 18 at the North Woodside Community Centre, 230 Pleasant St. in Dartmouth at 7:00 pm

The HRM crossing guards are employed by the Halifax Police Services Board.

For information:

John Evans CUPE Communications Rep. (902) 455-4180 (o)   (902) 229-1925 (Cell)

John McCracken CUPE National Rep. (902) 455-4180 (o)   jmccracken@cupe.ca