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a name="3"> Unacceptable Anti-Worker Actions of Ruling ElitesWorkers' Forum has received reports from northern and southern New Brunswick that ruling elites in the province are using the COVID-19 pandemic to escalate their attacks on the working class. Allardville Landfill Workers
In the Chaleur Region in the north, the Chaleur Regional Service Commission (CRSC) locked out 23 Allardville landfill workers on February 12. They are members of CUPE Local 4193. From the beginning of the lockout, the CRSC has hired scabs to cross the picket line and even received a court order to limit the number of picketers at any time to six. In response to this attack on their rights, the CUPE members and supporters of the 23 locked-out workers have taken their struggle to the community and have received a great response and support. CUPE Local 4193 held a rally in Belledune on March 12, where strong community support was shown for the locked-out workers. Following the rally, CUPE presented the Deputy Mayor of Belledune with a petition signed by 1,200 community members from across the region calling for an end to the lockout. The workers say that before the pandemic
emergency they had been going door to door in
the region to explain the situation facing the
landfill workers. CUPE reports the community
expressed strong opposition to the lockout, in
particular to the use of scabs, which people
feel is unjust and uses the unemployed in the
region in a spiteful way to split the people and
attack particular workers. The petition is
available here.
Following a provincial government emergency pandemic directive on March 19, the Allardville landfill workers took down their picket in compliance with the order not to congregate during the COVID-19 crisis. Immediately upon the declaration of the New Brunswick emergency and removal of the picket, the CRSC posted a new notice on its website to hire more scabs to replace the positions held by locked-out CUPE Local 4193 members at wages well above what workers receive under their collective agreement. Sandy Harding, CUPE Maritimes Regional Director, told the media that she was "disgusted" that the Chaleur regional government would use the COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity to escalate their use of scabs to replace CUPE workers. "This is truly a shameful situation," she said. "We reached out to the employer and respectfully asked them to pause the lockout during this crisis situation and they quickly refused. We then asked them to bargain (virtually) so that we could come to some resolution and allow these workers the respect they deserve; but the employer's representative doesn't really want to talk unless the local agrees to concessions on sick notes and Union leave language. I am disgusted by this whole situation and my heart goes out to the strong workers who are simply standing up for collective agreement language they already have." CUPE Local 4193 President Serge Plourde, a labourer at the landfill, spoke to the media after seeing his job advertised by the CRSC. Plourde says the 23 members locked-out of their worksite are being treated like the garbage sent to the landfill by the CRSC, whose board members are the mayors of Belledune, Bathurst, Petit-Rocher, Pointe-Verte, Beresford, Nigadoo and four Local Service District representatives of the provincial government. In the face of the pandemic, the locked-out workers had agreed to return to their jobs and reopen the landfill if the CRSC would resume negotiations for an acceptable collective agreement. The CRSC bluntly refused to agree and instead reintroduced demands already settled and insisted workers accept the employer's demands, including the one forcing workers to provide a doctor's note when off sick even for one day and to limit the number of unpaid union leave days taken by worker representatives. In rejecting the workers' offer to return to work, the CRSC also said it had appointed a new negotiator from Fredericton who only speaks and reads English. The union team's lead negotiator, Robert LeMoignan, CUPE National Representative, told the media this manoeuvre underscores the employer's dictatorial behaviour and lack of respect for the workers, as the Chaleur region is mostly French-speaking and the proposals from both sides are all in French and the CUPE team is comprised of francophones. In addition, the CRSC appears to have hardened its positions, given the landfill will be operated by scabs, and refuses to even admit that some issues have already been settled. City of Saint John Outside Workers
CUPE's Brien Watson told NB Media Co-op that he is very concerned about Mayor Darling's suggestion that all the municipal workers should have their wages frozen for four years because municipal sector wages have fallen so far behind the rising cost of living. The workers' claims are just and these attacks on them must stop. Shame on the Chaleur Regional Service Commission and the Mayor of Saint John. The use of positions of privilege and power to impose self-serving positions is to be condemned. It is totally out of sync with the requirements of the times and in contempt of the culture of respect for working people Canada requires. Only after the needs of the working people are looked after can other problems be sorted out.
This article was published in Article Link:   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
In
southern New Brunswick, the City of Saint John
is intensifying pressure on outside workers
using COVID-19 as the rationale. The municipal
government bargaining team has been demanding
that CUPE Local 18, the city's outside workers,
accept a wage freeze. NB Media Co-op reports
Saint John Mayor Don Darling wrote on his blog
on March 19 that given the COVID-19 situation,
he will not support any raises with unionized
labour. The mayor pompously declared that he
will reject any raises, bonuses or barriers in
any new agreement with workers and he expects
councillors to support his position. The mayor's
anti-worker stance reflects his position as
representative of the powerful financial
oligarchy in New Brunswick and in particular the
owners of the two dominant companies in the
city, the Irving Oil refinery and the J.D.
Irving pulp and paper company. 