Halifax regional council rejected the transit union’s plan for binding arbitration on Tuesday night.

In a closed-door session that lasted nearly four hours, council decided instead to go with a new conciliator offered by the province.

Mayor Peter Kelly said the province approached HRM around noon to offer its lead conciliator, Ken Zwicker. That came a few hours before the union took a vote on arbitration, “I’m not sure if it was the premier, the minister or somebody (else), but the fact is we’ve been approached by the province,” Kelly told reporters shortly before 11 p.m.

Kelly wouldn’t say if the council vote to go with the conciliator  was split or unanimous, but he added they want to get back to the table with the union.

“We believe a negotiated settlement is the best approach,” Kelly said.

He added council is worried about the financial risk it would be putting taxpayers in by going into binding arbitration.

After union members voted for arbitration in Dartmouth, more than 100 members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 508 donned red T-shirts emblazoned with “Arbitration is the Answer” and marched across the Macdonald Bridge to Halifax City Hall.

Union president Ken Wilson told reporters Tuesday afternoon he was originally opposed to the possibility of arbitration.

“But when both sides can’t negotiate, and can’t find a (resolution) to something and it’s affecting the public, I think the cleanest and fastest thing to do would be binding arbitration,” he said.

Wilson couldn’t be reached for comment after council’s decision came down late Tuesday night.

According to the union, if council had agreed to go the arbitration route, buses could have resumed running within 24 hours under the conditions of the last collective agreement, signed in 2006.

Wilson told reporters Tuesday afternoon he believes the public no longer cares about the issues that led to the transit strike ‘ they’re just fed up they can’t get to work.

“We’ve always said we understood what no public transportation would mean to the citizens of HRM. No buses on the road, it’s going to affect the local economy,” said Wilson.

“Parking tickets are up, sales are down at the malls. We knew this was going to happen. Let’s not affect the economy, let’s not affect the public. Let’s put the buses back on the road, and let’s let the adults handle this behind closed doors.”