New Brunswick Government Says Final Offer Made in Labor Dispute with CUPE – New Brunswick | The Canadian News

The New Brunswick government says it has made its final offer to thousands of striking public sector workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

In a short statement emailed on Saturday, Erika Jutras, communications director for the Finance and Treasury Board, said the government has asked the union to present its offer to members for a vote.

Jutras did not provide details on the offer, which was made after talks that began at 2 pm Friday dragged on into the early hours of the morning.

She says it is the “sincere hope of the government that workers will go back to work on Monday and schools will be open early next week.”

Earlier Saturday, CUPE spokesman Simon Ouellette confirmed only that the union agreed to a media blackout.

But Ouellette later said that the government’s offer was in the process of being presented to negotiating teams at each of CUPE’s seven locations.

“They will make a decision on whether to take it (the offer) to their members or reject it,” he said. If the teams accept the offer, Ouellette said he would go to the membership to vote.

“One thing is for sure, today there will be no vote (of the members) because we are talking about 20,000 workers,” he said.

Ouellette also confirmed that talks were held with the province about pension plans for two of the CUPE locals.

Those locals, 1253 and 2745, represent the school’s custodial staff, maintenance workers, bus drivers, library assistants and administrative support workers, as well as educational assistants.

Public servants, including employees in the education sector, transportation workers, corrections and the community college system, have been on strike for more than two weeks.

This Canadian Press report was first published on November 13, 2021.