New Brunswick Criminalizes Workers'
Just
Claims
Provincial
Government and Court of Queen's Bench Declare Nursing Home
Workers'
Strike Illegal
- Interview, Simon Ouellette,
Communications Representative, CUPE Maritimes -
CUPE meeting March 9, 2019 to plan next moves after they were
deprived
of right to strike.
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) nursing
home
workers in New Brunswick have voted 94 per cent to go on strike
to
defend their demands for wages and working conditions acceptable
to
themselves. The provincial government instead of responding in a
positive and respectful manner applied for and was granted an
order
from
the Court of Queen's Bench to interfere with the workers' right
to
strike in defence of their demands. The day before the 4,100
workers
would have walked off the job on March 10, the court granted an
order
depriving the workers of their right to strike for 10 days.
Regardless of which cartel party has been in
power, the
New Brunswick government has steadily refused to invest in
nursing
homes as a necessary social program to meet the needs and
well-being of
those requiring care and the workers who provide the care.
Instead,
governments have continually said that workers and the
Association of
Nursing Homes must negotiate within the investment parameters of
the
government of the day pretending that those who hold the purse
strings
and decide how the value of nursing homes is realized are
detached from
the issue other than to interfere with workers' rights.
On March 11, nursing homes workers and allies
held
demonstrations in Saint John, Shippagan, Edmundston, and other
cities
to protest the court order and interference in their right to
strike in
defence of their claim on the value they produce for society and
a say
on their working conditions.
Workers' Forum interviewed Simon
Ouellette, the
Communications Representative for the Maritimes Office of the
Canadian
Union of Public Employees.
***
Picket March 11, 2019 outside Deputy Premier Robert Gavin's
office in
Shippagan.
Workers' Forum: How many workers are
engaged in the current struggle?
Simon Ouellette: Approximately
4,100
employees, mostly women, work in 46 New Brunswick nursing homes
across
the province. It can be said that they are the support staff in
the
nursing home system: licensed practical nurses, cooks,
maintenance
workers, attendants etc. These nursing homes are operated
privately but
are
funded by the government.
WF: What are the main demands of
the
workers?
SO: We can characterize the demands
as
follows: decent wages so as to solve the crisis of recruitment
and
retention of staff. These questions are interrelated. New
Brunswick has
a population that is rapidly aging. The people who live in
nursing
homes can no longer drive and have reduced mobility. Their need
for
services is
increasing, but the level of staff has not increased and the
wages have
not increased either. Wages have stagnated for more than a
decade. This
is a phenomenon that is happening across New Brunswick, despite
the
economic recovery. What we have is a recovery without wage
increases.
In fact, New Brunswick workers have seen their purchasing
power decline. Nursing home workers are just the tip of the
iceberg.
There are many workers from different sectors whose wages have
stagnated and whose purchasing power has decreased.
 At the heart of the
problem
is recruitment and retention of staff. Without decent wages, the
most
experienced people leave the profession. New recruits work a few
months
and realize that the conditions make no sense and leave the
sector.
There is little incentive to stay because people can find a job
elsewhere. And even that is not always the
case because in rural areas nursing homes are often one of the
largest
employers. There are over 350 staff vacancies at the moment in
nursing
homes
across the province.
WF: There has been a lot of talk
about
essential services in this fight. Can you tell us more about
that?
SO: There is a law that was passed
in
2009 on essential services in nursing homes in New Brunswick. The
law
designates almost all employees in nursing homes as essential.
Basically, they lost their right to strike. Then, the Supreme
Court of
Canada ruled, in 2015, in relation to a Saskatchewan law, that
the
right to free collective bargaining includes the right to strike
under
the Canadian Charter of Rights
and
Freedoms. In 2018, the New Brunswick
Labour and Employment Board invalidated much of the Essential
Services
in Nursing Homes Act as being in contravention of the
charter.
The employer ended up in a situation where there
is no
essential services designation. It requested that the government
intervene to review the designation of essential services. This
is
happening while we are in the midst of negotiations, and the
employers
are in a situation where the workers have regained their right to
strike that had been
denied. It has been almost ten years since the retention crisis
escalated and there was not a single government that wanted to
tackle
the problem. Employers are asking for a review of the Board's
decision,
which could take years. Rather than be in the courts for years,
we have
people who need to improve their wages and conditions and have
other
things in mind besides going to court. The employer hopes to deal
with
the legal system instead of coming to an acceptable agreement
with the
workers.
WF: Can you tell us more about the
court
order that was issued Saturday, March 9?
SO: The Government of New Brunswick
obtained a court order from the Court of Queen's Bench Saturday.
We
learned about it in the media. They went for an ex parte
order,
which means an order that is made in our absence. We did not even
have
the opportunity to present our arguments. The order says it is
illegal
to
go on strike and hold any kind of job action for the next 10
days. The
penalties are very severe for anyone who violates the court
order.
We find it very irresponsible for the government
to be
involved in the negotiation process using the big stick of the
law in
favour of the employer instead of bringing resources to the table
to
improve the situation. It has been 28 months that we have been
trying
to negotiate an acceptable contract.
The employer has dragged things out and it suits
them
very well that the government is engaging in these legal actions
because it allows the process to drag out so the employers do not
have
to provide better wages and conditions for the workers.
The government may seek an extension of the court
order
to review the issue of the designation of essential services in
nursing
homes. After that, the union will probably appeal if it is not
satisfied and that will never end. This could last for years and
in
practice deny employees a basic right.
We are asking that the government fix the
situation and
ensure that there is fair and equitable bargaining for a
collective
agreement that is acceptable to the workers. We do not want the
important issue of wages and the recruitment and retention of
staff to
be drowned in the legal system.
Nursing home workers picket outside MLA's office, March 11,
2019.
This article was published in
Number 9 - March 14, 2019
Article Link:
New Brunswick Criminalizes Workers'
Just
Claims: Provincial
Government and Court of Queen's Bench Declare Nursing Home
Workers'
Strike Illegal - Interview, Simon Ouellette,
Communications Representative, CUPE Maritimes
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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