The Alcool New Brunswick Liquor (ANBL) workers represented by CUPE 963 are beginning strike votes today, ending on Saturday, November 6. This vote follows the deadlock declaration made by the NB Labour Board on October 8, 2021.
“If the members vote for strike action, Local 963 will be joining the current picket line with the other 20,000 CUPE members on strike,” said Jamie Agnew, President of CUPE 963.
“Wages that go above the cost of living are at the heart of matter here too,” said Agnew. “Whether in retail or at the warehouse, our members have been going full tilt since the pandemic started, delivering record sales. They deserve a fair deal,” he added.
In 2020-2021, the Crown Corporation reported a record sales result to date: $506 million and a net income of $199 million.
Bargaining timeline:
- Local 963 has been in bargaining with the employer since March 2019.
- With the help of a conciliator the Bargaining Team reached a tentative agreement with ANBL on Sept 29, 2020. Membership had ratified this deal.
- Premier Higgs intervened to block the ratification of the deal by the NB Treasury Board in November-December, as it did not follow Blaine Higgs’s wage-freeze plans.
- The union bargaining team returned to the table later in 2021 with the employer, only to reach an impasse.
- The NB Labour Board declared a deadlock in bargaining on October 8, 2021
The 600 CUPE Local 963 members work in the 41 publicly run and owned ANBL retail outlets (not agency stores) and the Crown Corporation’s warehouses.