A meeting between Premier Blaine Higgs and the New Brunswick president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees ended Thursday evening with no clear result to end a weeklong strike.
Stephen Drost arrived at Chancery Place, where the Prime Minister’s office is located, minutes before 1 p.m. He and his CUPE colleagues left shortly before 9 p.m.
A government spokesperson confirmed the meeting was over but did not say if there had been an outcome or if the meeting would resume on Friday morning.
CUPE spokesperson Simon Ouellette also confirmed talks are over, but made no further comment.
The first of more than 20,000 CUPE members began quitting his job last Friday morning after contract negotiations with the province failed for the second time.
Higgs told reporters Thursday morning that he still hopes the union will bend in its efforts to add another CUPE local to the province’s shared risk pension plan.
“From the start there was this ‘I won’t talk about it’,” he said. “I don’t think any of us can adopt the attitude that we won’t talk about it. This is not the spirit of a meeting where you should try to resolve a conflict.”
He said he did not expect the meeting with Drost to resolve the dispute, but that it could determine whether negotiations can resume.
He added that he was ready to talk to Drost for as long as needed.
“That’s the priority, so for me it doesn’t matter what else is in the program.”
The strikers include prison guards, school guards, court reporters, and clerical and cleaning staff working for regional health authorities.
The residents have been without a contract for years. The court reporters’ last contract expired in 2016.
Another CUPE local representing NB Liquor store and warehouse workers is holding a strike vote this week.
Higgs warned he could use back-to-work legislation, including an imposed salary mandate, to end the dispute.
But he said he could also use the province’s COVID-19 emergency order to force the return of healthcare workers, given the strike’s impact on vaccination clinics, testing sites. and hospital procedures.
“Something has to give way. We cannot let the health care system be affected.”
While a bill would take several days of debate before being passed, the emergency decree can be invoked quickly by Cabinet decree.
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