CUPE Local 1251 has filed, this week, a bad faith bargaining complaint to the Labour and Employment Board against the government.
“Earlier this month, the department of Social development announced the elimination of 38 Human Services Counsellors across the province. The Union was informed the same day as the official announcement was made to the concerned employees,” explained Susan Barton, CUPE Representative.
“We believe the government had already made the decision to eliminate those jobs during our last round of bargaining last February. CUPE 1251 signed a new collective agreement this April. Furthermore, in the spring, the Union and Government met a number of times to review the duties and the responsibilities of the Human Services Counsellors. This review led to a wage adjustment for 32 of these employees”, added Barton.
“Therefore, we are asking the Labour and Employment Board to declare that the department of Social development violated the Public Service Labour Relation Act and to order the Employer to reverse its decision to eliminate the Human Services Counsellors.”
“This is a complete lack of respect for those employees who work day in and day out with the needy families and the children of this province. We consider this decision not only to be an attack on long serving employees, but also an attack on the most vulnerable of our society.”
“Recently, the minister of Social development, Mary Schryer announced a year-long consultation to elaborate a poverty reduction plan. The only thing she doing now is reducing the services to the poorest, not reducing poverty.”