FREDERICTON – The New Brunswick government has issued an emergency order requiring striking health care workers to return to work by midnight Friday night.
Attorney General Hugh Flemming said the executive order was necessary because there was a risk that medical care would not be provided and patients would die if the strike continued.
He told a press conference that the back-to-work order only applies to workers in the health care sector, not to other members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) who are on duty. stoppage of work since last Friday.
The strike involves school bus drivers, educational support staff and workers in health care, transportation, corrections and the community college system.
Flemming called the government’s decision unfortunate but necessary, saying the work disruption has led to a crisis in the province’s health system.
Earlier today, Premier Blaine Higgs interrupted a press conference held by the union representing 22,000 striking public servants as the two parties involved in the labor dispute publicly argued over the latest offers.
Mr Higgs had previously told the legislature that an almost eight-hour meeting Thursday between him and union officials ended with a government offer the union had agreed to present to its bargaining team.
But CUPE president Steve Drost told a press conference outside the Legislature on Friday that his union responded with a counter-proposal at 2:20 a.m. Friday morning. He said at the time that he still had not received a response from the government. Drost said the union had proposed that members return to work immediately rather than wait for a ratification vote.
“Any of you could have returned to work this morning,” he told a few hundred striking members gathered on the lawn of the Legislative Assembly. You could have been there to prepare the schools for Monday. You could have been there to store laundry in hospitals. ”
Then, Mr. Drost spoke directly to Prime Minister Higgs: “You want an agreement? You go out right away and let’s fix it. ”
Blaine Higgs arrived at the press conference a few minutes later, walking through the crowd of strikers and asking to address them.
“We have to have a solution here,” Higgs told the crowd.
The union released details of the government’s proposal and its counter-proposal. The government offered a 2% pay rise per year for five years as well as an increase of 25 cents an hour each year. He also proposed changes to the pension plan for two locals.
The changes proposed by Blaine Higgs’ government would shift workers in one local to a shared risk model for their pension plan, and he would offer a pension plan to another group that currently does not have one.
The union said it responded with a 2% per year increase over five years as well as a further increase of 25 cents per hour for the first three years, followed by a 50 cents per hour increase over the two last years. But the key to the counterproposal was removing the changes to the pension plans.
“We are here to negotiate salaries,” Drost said.
But Mr. Higgs has tried to convince union members that the changes to the pension plan are necessary.
“It’s sustainable, affordable and safe for the province and plan members,” he told them. No one loses anything from current plans or any value. “
The union organizers then asked the Prime Minister to return their microphone, and he left the rally.
Prior to the release of the back-to-work decree, Drost said it was too early to say whether his members would comply with such a decision.
“But I can tell you there are a lot of very angry people,” Drost said on Friday. They are so fed up. It’s very unstable. It’s a time bomb and we don’t need it. (Blaine Higgs) puts the people of New Brunswick in danger. ”
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