FREDERICTON – A last ditch effort to negotiate a Collective Agreement for the members of CUPE Local 1190 failed this week.
“After two days of negotiations before a Conciliation Board, we were not able to make progress on issues such as job security”, explained Andy Hardy, President of CUPE Local 1190, General Labour and Trades, Part I.
Even though the Board tried mediation between the parties, the Government still refused to move on the job security issue.
‘’This is a major concern for our members. In our contract, we have protection for the employees hired before August 1990. We need that security for our members if the Government decides to contract out some of the work we do’’, explained Hardy.
“The other major point is the Winter Maintenance Program. The Government wants us to basically agree to eliminate the overtime during a storm. Such a concession is unacceptable for many of our members”, said Hardy.
“We have been without a contract since December 2003. It is clear that the Government doesn’t want to negotiate and is forcing our members to take a stronger stand”, concluded Hardy.
CUPE Local 1190 represents more than 1,800 members who work in many departments such as Transportation, Tourism, Natural Resources, Supply and Services, and the Community Colleges.
For more information:
Andy Hardy, President CUPE 1190 – (506) 458-1087
Clifford Hay, CUPE Representative – (506) 458-8059