CAMPBELLTON– CUPE Local 76 members who work for the City of Campbellton are on the picket lines this morning after being locked out by the municipal council.
“It is unfortunate the City council chose confrontation over negotiation,” said George Parker, president of CUPE Local 76.
“Last week, in a last ditch effort to reach a collective agreement, the union requested the intervention of a mediator. The city sent a third party to the table with the mandate to get even more concession from its workers,” says Parker.
“The next day, the city contracted out the snow removal services.”
“When Mayor Bruce MacIntosh said talking about the lockout ‘they had very little choice’ – well they had the choice to sit down and negotiate with its workers, not try to bully their way through negotiation. Since we began this process, the city never altered its course.”
Only once in our history, we were unable to provide the service to the residents of Campbellton. We were locked out by the city more than 30 years ago!”
CUPE Local 76 represents 43 employees who work mainly in the water department, waste water, streets, recreation, workshop, inventory, fire department and police dispatch.
The collective agreement expired on December 31, 2013.
For more information, contact:
George Parker, CUPE Local 76 President: 506-783-3373
Michel Boudreau, CUPE Representative: 506-381-0355
Danielle Savoie, CUPE Communications: 506-381-1966