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The union representing Nova Scotia highway workers says Transportation and Infrastrucure Renewal Minister Geoff MacLellan’s announcement that his government will be pulling the plug on in-house paving is both misguided and premature.

Nova Scotia Highway Workers’ Union (CUPE Local 1867) President Steve Joy says, “Without any research into the benefits that this program has created for the people of the province, they are now going to eliminate it.  

“Remote communities like Meat Cove in northern Cape Breton had work done under this program after being ignored for decades by the big private contractors.  That’s  because they couldn’t make enough profits from these smaller jobs,” explains Joy.

CUPE National Representative Peter Baxter says, “This work represented a tiny portion of the paving work being done in our province and went a long way to making those private companies be more competitive in their bids.  We know that the public paving plant has had a significant impact on the price of asphalt in this province.”

Asks Baxter, “What possible sense does it make to mothball this expensive equipment less than two years after it was purchased by the department ?”