Unionized public sector workers say the Higgs government is forcing them to strike by withdrawing from contract negotiations on Tuesday night.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees says it has “clearly shown a movement” on its wage demands during three days of negotiations, but the province has ended the talks.
CUPE New Brunswick President Stephen Drost told a press conference Wednesday morning in Fredericton that a strike is “imminent.”
“It can happen at any time,” he said. Union spokesperson Simon Ouellette said a walkout was possible “within days”.
Drost was surrounded by members of the negotiating team. They and other CUPE representatives and members chanted “Solidarity” at the end of the press conference.
Premier Blaine Higgs responded within the hour, telling reporters he would use the province’s back-to-work legislation or COVID-19 emergency order to prevent a strike affecting hospitals or schools.
“I would use all the means at my disposal to protect and limit the impact on the citizens of this province, especially when we are in the midst of a pandemic and we have an emergency order in place,” he said. .
Back-to-work legislation could be introduced as early as next Tuesday, when the new session of the legislature begins.
The province’s Emergency Measures Act also allows the cabinet to “provide for the maintenance and restoration of essential facilities” during a state of emergency such as the one currently in place for COVID-19.
Higgs said the legal tool he uses will depend on the circumstances. “I won’t prescribe either.”
Thousands of workers voted for the strike
Ten locals representing over 22,000 workers are now in a legal strike position.
They include workers in health, education, transportation and agriculture, as well as social workers, prison guards, court reporters, and staff from WorkSafeNB and New Community Colleges. -Brunswick.
Ouellette has confirmed that the CUPE local of NB Liquor is not among the 10 who voted in favor of the strike.
CUPE says its negotiators have offered to accept annual wage increases of three per cent over four years. The union was looking for five percent increases. The union’s notice says the province was offering annual increases of two percent over five years.
The province has refused to back down demands for pension concessions, CUPE says.
Negotiations resumed Sunday with the help of a mediator.
“We were ready to resolve this issue” during the talks, Drost said. “We have moved a lot.”
Higgs said the province had improved its offer on Tuesday in an attempt to avoid a strike, but “that is obviously not good enough and we certainly got the impression with CUPE, with management, that it is never good enough “.
He said that offer was no longer on the table and that the province had nothing further to offer. “We are not going higher.”
The province wants to add two CUPE pension plans to its shared risk plan and, in turn, would add some workers without pensions to the system.
In September, Higgs said the union’s wage demands were unaffordable. But CUPE said a financial update earlier this month projecting a surplus of $ 38 million this year shows there is enough money to pay for the pay hike it wants.
The union says the province’s new two percent supply is still not enough to match the cost of living, let alone make up for years of sub-inflationary increases.
“Our members are the lowest paid of the lowest paid,” Drost said. “No good employer would continue to pay their workers less and less each year for 15 or 20 years.”
Higgs acknowledged Wednesday that second-quarter figures suggest this year’s surplus will now be “significantly better” than the $ 38 million figure.
But he said it would be wrong to agree to big pay increases that may not be affordable in the years to come.
“I did not come here to create more responsibility for the province,” he said.
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