CUPE Claims NB Government Bargained in Bad Faith on Labor Board Complaint – New Brunswick | The Canadian News

New Brunswick’s largest public sector union is accusing the government of bargaining in bad faith in a letter sent to the labor board.

The complaint comes from centralized negotiation talks between the two parties that broke up a week ago. About 22,000 workers in 10 locations have started or will soon begin strike voting.

The union says the government participated in negotiating the retreating horizon by introducing concessions that were not included in the mandate of the centralized process.

CUPE NB Chairman Stephen Drost says Prime Minister Blaine Higgs laid out the centralized process during a Zoom meeting on Aug. 17, which only included discussions on wages, with other potential contract pieces later to be handled by individual locals. .

“That’s exactly what was agreed upon and actually used the nuances of language. He said we’ll take care of the salary part, fix that and then take care of the nuances, ”Drost said.

“Each bargaining unit has different problems, they do different jobs, and they have different requirements on the job, so it’s those specific things that bargaining committees would have to figure out for themselves once the salary mandate is established.”

Last Friday, Higgs said that was never part of the deal and that it would not be possible to negotiate wages in isolation.

“If you go and buy a car, you go with it and say, ‘Shoot, I wish I had negotiated a spare tire, I wish I had talked about the warranty, I wish I had a discussion about the maintenance contract.’ But I can’t do it because I already bought it, ‘”Higgs said.

“You can’t isolate the issue of wages and then say, ‘But I’ll be very serious, I’ll talk about all the other things once we talk about this.’ You can’t do that in negotiations. “

Higgs says it was clear with union representatives during a meeting on August 26 that the government wanted a list of things the union was willing to address.

“I said I want a list of all the problems that are on the table,” Higgs said.

Drost does not deny that the meeting took place, but said the introduction of “concessions” was not part of the process agreed to on August 17.

Negotiation rules followed, province says

In a statement, a spokesman for the Department of Finance and the treasury board said that government negotiators have followed the negotiating rules at all times.

“The provincial government negotiators adhere to established rules and regulations at all times and the current round of negotiations with the local CUPE is no different. We will respond to CUPE’s complaint when requested by the board, ”wrote Dave MacLean.

When the talks broke down at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, the two parties were still far apart. The government had gone from its initial offer of a three percent salary increase for four years, rather than offering a six-year contract, with four years of one percent raises and two percent raises in the past year. . That was the pay package recently rejected by two bargaining units of the New Brunswick Nurses Union.

The government then offered to increase the increases to 1.25 percent in the first four years. According to Higgs, CUPE was unwilling to back down on its proposal for a 20 percent salary increase for four years. He said the government was unwilling to continue negotiating with itself.

“There really hasn’t been a lot of trading of any kind because their 5 percent per year increase position hasn’t changed at all,” Higgs said on Friday.

The government package also included proposals to remove some 100 managers from the union, to incorporate some locals who still have pension packages defined in the provincial joint venture model, and to increase the salary of eventuals from 80% to 100%.

According to a government statement, his offer would cost around $ 71 million a year. The union’s proposal cost $ 158 million a year.

At least one local CUPE has been without a contract since 2016, and three more collective agreements expired in 2017. The union has argued that those years, along with low-wage contracts for the past 10 years, have left workers earning wages. well below that level. cost of living.

Higgs, on the other hand, has argued that the province’s financial position means that taxpayers cannot afford the requested increases. The 2020-2021 budget anticipates that close to $ 1 billion will be added to net debt over the next four years.

“I feel good about what we are presenting and I cannot stress enough how much we need everyone to be a part of New Brunswick’s future success,” Higgs said Friday.

The union expects to know the result of the strike votes by the end of the month. The province says there are contingency plans in place in the event of a strike and that there are workers designated as essential in all CUPE units to ensure the health and safety of the public.