The two sides in the Halifax Regional Municipality's Metro Transit strike met on Wednesday as talks continued into the night at a Dartmouth hotel.

Metro Transit managers and negotiators for the Amalgamated Transit Union returned to the bargaining table with a conciliator for the first time since more than 700 workers walked off the job on Feb. 2. They were to present new contract proposals to each other.

But Ken Wilson, the president of Local 508 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, told reporters those talks were "going lousy" during a dinner break.

"It's not looking good," Wilson told reporters gathered in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Halifax Harbourview.

"I keep hearing it from City Hall and I keep hearing it from the councillors and I keep hearing from this employer that they want buses back on the road. Well you know what? They still have not come here seriously, ready to talk."

An estimated 50,000 to 55,000 commuters have been left without bus or ferry service every day since talks broke down in the early morning hours of Feb. 2.

During that last meeting with union representatives, Metro Transit said it presented one offer that included a scheduling option known as rostering — where shifts are scheduled in weekly blocks — and a six per cent wage hike over three years.

A second offer included no rostering and a wage hike of 3.5 per cent over three years.

Union representatives rejected the proposals, saying they wanted to keep the flexibility in their schedules.

Wilson said Wednesday the union had presented a counter-offer that would keep scheduling the way it's currently done and give workers wage increases of three per cent each year over three years.

"We've always been at that rate and we expect that they'll beat us down from there," he said.

But the management's latest offer still included the new type of scheduling, Wilson said, which has always been considered a deal-breaker for the union.

"We have a few things we're still working on, we've moved on a lot of big stuff in our last package back to the employer but they're not prepared to move off rostering," Wilson told reporters.

"We told the employer, 'Go back, do what you have to do. Call whoever you have to call. Come back without rostering and we can probably get a deal done.' But as long as rostering stays on the table, there's going to be no deal."

Wilson did not provide any other details about Metro Transit's latest offer.

Mood hopeful among workers

The mood on the picket line in Dartmouth was upbeat Wednesday morning.

"It seems to be pretty positive. Everybody's looking forward to see what's going to happen today," Adam Francis told CBC News.

Francis was among the 30 striking workers pacing in the cold at the Alderney bus terminal.

'I think they should have got back before now.'— Stuart MacDonald, striking worker

Stuart MacDonald is happy that negotiations are back on. He wants to get back to work.

"I think they should have got back before now," he said. "Any time that they can get together and start working out issues and getting us back on the road, the better."

For Taylor Acker, it means a long walk across Macdonald Bridge to get to school and work.

"I hope they settle it. I just want it to be over," she said of the week-long strike.