Higgs to meet with CUPE Thursday as opposition to single 'wage mandate' heats up

The Higgs government will meet with the Canadian Union of Public Employees on Thursday in the hopes of restarting contract talks, even as another union said it would be prepared to fight any back-to-work bill imposing wage settlements across the public sector.

New Brunswick Nurses Union president Paula Doucet says her members won't accept a so-called wage mandate that Premier Blaine Higgs could use to end the strike.

And she would not rule out a legal challenge to such a law.

"We have some legal [people] here in our office that would definitely put their eyes to that," Doucet says.

• Thousands march to legislature in massive protest on Day 5 of CUPE strike

Higgs repeated his warning Wednesday that if he uses back-to-work legislation to end the CUPE strike, it will include a wage mandate imposing uniform increases on those union locals and all other public-sector workers.

Doucet says that would be an insult to nurses who've been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020 and who have twice rejected tentative agreements on a new contract.

"Having something mandated to them now is another slap in the face," she said.

"Nurses are tired and frustrated and exhausted, and they're just really looking for some recognition here as well as better working conditions and fair compensation, and they're not getting that now."

Premier 'optimistic' a deal can be reached

Higgs told reporters Wednesday morning he still hopes to avoid using legislation to end the dispute, which began last Friday.

"I'd like to remain optimistic that we will still be able to work out a negotiated settlement with CUPE, and the opportunity for us to get back to the table is real."

• Ordering CUPE back to work won't be a simple process for Higgs, says labour lawyer

Not long afterward, CUPE New Brunswick spokesperson Simon Ouellette confirmed that union officials will meet government representatives Thursday at 1 p.m.

"I can confirm the premier has invited CUPE leadership to meet tomorrow at 1 p.m.," Higgs's spokesperson Nicolle Carlin said in a statement.

Ouellette said it's not clear whether it's a return to bargaining or just a meeting to discuss restarting negotiations.

Around 20,000 CUPE members in 10 locals began striking last Friday after a second breakdown in contract negotiations. The locals have been without contracts for years. One, representing court stenographers, saw its last agreement expire in 2016.

ANBL workers starting strike votes

CUPE announced Wednesday that another of its locals representing N.B. Liquor employees were starting strike votes that would run until Saturday.

Members of Local 963, who include employees of 41 liquor stores, ratified a contract last year, but Higgs blocked it because its wage increases were higher than his wage model for provincial workers.

Several hundred CUPE members and supporters returned to the legislature Wednesday after a larger protest Tuesday. For the second day, horns and noisemakers used by the crowd were picked up by the microphones and sound system in the chamber.

In question period, Opposition Liberal Leader Roger Melanson pressed Attorney-General Ted Flemming on a 2015 Supreme Court of Canada ruling that upheld the right to strike and set a high bar for governments using back-to-work legislation.

Flemming called it a "complex question" with "assorted variations" of court rulings on the issuebut said any legislation would comply with the Constitution.

"If it is not justified in law, we won't do it," he said.

Wage mandate would have to be for all: Higgs

Higgs said applying a wage mandate to all bargaining groups, whether they have signed contracts now or not, would protect the bill from a legal challenge.

"It would be for all unions, because it wouldn't be fair [otherwise]. That's my understanding legally. We have to do it for everyone."

That would involve about 58,000 provincial employees, about 80 per cent of whom are represented by unions, he said.

Higgs added that no union with a signed contract would see anything rolled back by a wage mandate. Any imposed package would be equal to or better than existing agreements.

"I would feel obligated to provide those same terms and conditions to those that have settled," the premier said.

Melanson said a back-to-work bill with a single wage mandate across the board is not the way to go.

"Each group has different issues that they want to deal with, so that's why you get to the negotiating table and you discuss them. Negotiation is not a monologue, it's a dialogue."

Green Leader David Coon said such a move would be "autocratic."

"It throws the whole notion of collective bargaining on its head, to be doing that by fiat, by legislated fiat. Not only is it unacceptable but I think it would be open to court challenges, no question."

Higgs said Wednesday that a second-quarter fiscal projection for the 2021-22 financial year foresees a budget surplus of $200 million to $300 million, a fact that opposition parties seized on to argue the province can afford to make CUPE a better offer.

The premier repeated that any contract has to be affordable for years to come, and it's not certain the province will have that much money to work with after this year.

The Liberals also continued needling Higgs about whether his PC caucus is united behind his approach to negotiations.

"There's a whole team of ministers and MLAs and we still don't know what they believe in this strike situation," Melanson said in question period. "What is his team actually doing to help him out?"

Higgs said that "more than most," he's been open to different views in his government, but "at the end of the day, the premier does what he believes is right with the collection of information he has received from his caucus."