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June 2, 2022 – The NB Council of Nursing Home Unions (NBCNHU), representing more than 4,600 nursing home workers, held a press conference today. The Council announced it has initiated legal proceedings to enforce pension law and protect nursing home workers’ pensions.

“As of this morning, CUPE filed a formal complaint to Angela Mazerolle, the NB Superintendent of Pensions, asking her to intervene as the province is deliberately underfunding nursing home workers’ Defined Benefit Pension plan,” said Sharon Teare, president of the NBCNHU.

“By refusing to allow adjustments in contribution levels from both our employers and plan members, the province is breaking its legal obligations to ensure a viable pension plan for over 4,500 workers and thousands of retirees,” said Jason St-Onge, NBCNHU’s 1^st vice president.

In the 25-page legal complaint, the Council notes that the government has not done its basic due diligence over the years. The government ignored multiple calls by workers to adjust contribution levels, and now, the plan deficit has reached $112 million.

The Pension Benefit Act and the Nursing Home Pension Plans Act are clear: the pension plan must be fully funded or on the path to being fully funded so that promised benefits can be kept. “They can’t contribute less than the cost of what is being promised to nursing home workers, and they can’t ignore deficits and allow them to grow larger,” said Emily Niles, CUPE’s pension researcher. “The Superintendent must intervene” added Niles.

The NBCNHU pension plan pays out on average $7,300 per year to each retiree.  “It is a very modest pension, and it should be improved, not attacked and undermined by this government who claims it “cares” for its front-line workers,” said St-Onge.

“The Higgs government is manufacturing a pension crisis in nursing homes to justify benefit cuts, so we are taking legal action to defend our members. Workers will not stand idly by while their pension plan deteriorates,” concluded Teare.

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Fredericton, April 14, 2022 – CUPE Local 5446, representing more than 550 Shannex care home workers in NB, along with the NB Council of Nursing Home Unions (NBCNHU), representing more than 4,600 nursing home workers in our province, is inviting the Government of New Brunswick to adjust wages for all long-term-care workers to the same levels as in healthcare.

CUPE locals have lobbied and fought hard to improve wages for workers in all sectors. With the 2021 CUPE strike, healthcare workers were among those able to make Premier Higgs listen to the urgent need in their sector. Workers in healthcare won over 15% to 17% increases in wages, which had been stagnant for years. In long-term care, however, where there is no real right to strike, wages have remained below inflation.  “In Shannex establishments and in all other nursing homes, the need to bring wages up to par with healthcare is very real,” declared Hope Cyr, President of CUPE Local 5446. “Every week we are losing LTC workers, who, understandably, are going over to work in hospitals where they are better compensated,” added Cyr.

“The strike had a vast positive domino effect on other sectors, including for the Cabinet ministers themselves, who recognized they also needed a cost-of-living adjustment to their salaries,” said Stephen Drost, President of CUPE NB. “Long-term care workers and special care workers should also benefit from a similar wage adjustment,” he added.

Back in September 2021, before the October strike, the NBCNHU held a press conference to demand Premier Higgs agree to the union’s proposed immediate 4$/hour wage increase MOU (Memorandum of Agreement) for all CUPE classifications in long-term care homes.

“We lobbied the government to increase care hours, but residents are still not getting the minimum care hours guaranteed under the Nursing Homes Act because of the critical lack of staff” reminded Sharon Teare, President of the NBCNHU. “It’s time the Premier made some bold moves to fix the crisis,” said Teare.

“The province can act now for all workers in long-term care and special care, from LPNs to care aides to environmental staff. They should not delay and delay and wait until a strike is declared to begin thinking about improving our situation,” concluded Hope Cyr.

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All Locals and Councils heading into bargaining and or wanting to increase membership engagement and participation are invited to the Organizing 4 Power training session, which begins on May 10, 2022.

This training is about high membership participation and organizing to win. There are countless examples of labour victories using the methods, here in the Atlantic region as well as many wins in the United States and across the world, as workers are pushing back. For example, Bargaining Forward CUPE NB, Dalhousie University union organizing success in joining PSAC, Amazon Labour Union’s amazing union drive, Starbucks organizing, and many more. Workers were able to stand up to hostile governments and large corporations and overcome many union-busting tactics.

The training is free and requires workers to sign up as a group. For our workers, this would be possible if Locals and Councils worked collaboratively. For example, someone from your bargaining team, Executive, Sub-unit Executives, and or other activists in your rank and file.

The training is based on the Jane McAlevey methodology with hands-on tools and support to organize to win. Workers can win better contracts and improve working conditions. The examples above are just a few and there are many more proven labour victories in the past 5 years using these strategies.

Registration is now open until May 3, 2022 for Organizing for  Power’s Core Spring/Summer Fundamentals Training. This upcoming training, which launches May 10 and runs six consecutive Tuesdays until June 14, builds on the core organizing concepts of what it takes to win hard battles in today’s class war. Learn more about the program here, and register your group of 10 or more by our May 3 deadline to join our global community organizing to build the power required to win.

VIDEO: WHAT WINNING LOOKS LIKE
Check out this video for a good example of the kinds of victories that groups taking OP4 courses are achieving. It’s a great way to introduce your colleagues to what we mean by organizing to win.

In this pilot episode, we talk with German hospital workers who just won a groundbreaking collective agreement through rigorous preparation and the power of the strike. A number of these hospital workers took the most recent O4P training to prepare this inspiring campaign.

Follow OP4 on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rls_organizing
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/organizing4power

April 4, 2022 – Close to 230 Virtual delegates at the CUPE NB’s 59th Annual Convention reiterated their resolve to the “Bargaining Forward” campaign. Improving all workers’ wages above cost-of-living increases will remain a priority. The convention was held from April 1^st to April 2^nd with guests from across the country and CUPE delegates from all corners of our province. 

Mark Hancock, CUPE’s national president, and Candace Rennick, CUPE’s new national secretary-treasurer, addressed the delegates to celebrate the victorious 2021 CUPE strike in New Brunswick. CLC President Bea Bruske encouraged delegates to keep up their fight to improve public services and push for good legislation for the working class.

Election results:

• 1^st Vice-President (2-year term): Sharon Teare was re-elected
• Secretary-Treasurer (2-year term): Kimberly Copp was re-elected
• Trustee (3-year term): Faye Nowlan

Among resolutions passed, delegates voted for strong provincial anti-scab legislation, improved WorkSafeNB compensations for injured workers, and protections against privatization threats. Delegates also voted to improve the Division’s board representation in both official languages, ensuring francophones and anglophones have equitable communications and media presence.

The Higgs government has announced that it would increase Cabinet Ministers’ and the Premier’s salaries by 15%, effective April 1, 2022.

Fredericton – This Tuesday, March 22, NB Finance Minister Ernie Steeves presented the 2022-2023 provincial budget.

“This is a surplus budget, but there is good news to be found in affordable childcare, thanks to the Federal program fund, healthcare investments, and a one-year rent cap at 3.8% for residential tenants,” said Stephen Drost, President of CUPE NB.

Click here to see the GNB 2022-2023 budget

“The 2021 strike showed to all that Government had the ability to pay front-line workers and help them deal with cost-of-living increases. With the hundreds of millions still leftover in surplus, I wish Higgs would act to bring wages in long-term care up to par with those in healthcare,” added Drost.

CUPE NB is concerned with the anti-Keynesian approach chosen by the provincial government.  “Instead of reinvesting the revenue generated by corporate property in improving public services and building affordable public housing, Higgs chose to give tax cuts to big property owners while the economy is in an upswing,” said Drost.

“The Conservatives are cutting GNB’s ability to intervene in a positive manner by $112 million (by 2023) to give tax cuts to big property owners,” said Drost. This is done through the following:

• Property tax cuts (15%) to non-residential (industrial and commercial) property owners and other “residential” properties such as nursing homes; &
• Property tax cuts (50%) to non-owner-occupied residential properties (such as apartment and rental buildings).

“This will increase housing speculation and construction for higher-income tenants, but it will do little where the market has failed, such as is the case with affordable housing,” said Drost.

CUPE NB notes the lack of imagination and big vision shown in this budget. As we emerge out of the pandemic, New Brunswickers would greatly benefit from innovative ideas such as:

• A full network of 24/7 public health clinics for non-urgent care.
• Public daycare centres in public workspaces such as schools, universities, and hospitals
• Electrification of the school bus fleet
• Affordable public housing in rural areas
• A real immigration department to structure, improve, and better coordinate support for newcomers

Fredericton, March 16, 2022 – CUPE locals representing Part I of the NB public services (Local 1190, 1251, 1418 and 1840) and CUPE NB held a press conference today. The locals announced they have just filed a formal complaint with the NB Labour and Employment Board to demand immediate repayment of retroactive pay owed to close to more than 4,100 CUPE members (*this number does not include retirees who could be affected by this).

“The Government has failed to meet its own legal obligations under Section 63(1) of the Public Service Labour Relations Act to implement provisions of the new collective agreements within ninety days from the date of their execution. That includes making retroactive payments to workers – that means pay for work already done,” said Stephen Drost, President of CUPE NB.

In their joint complaint, the CUPE locals ask the Labour and Employment Board to declare that the employer has broken the law and order it to do the following:

1. Immediately implement the provisions of the collective agreements and make the payment of retroactive monies owed to the affected workers;
2. Immediately provide a detailed breakdown, for each affected worker, of the calculation of the retroactive monies owed to them to ensure no mistakes were made (as many vigilant Local 1840 members discovered their retro pay was riddled with errors).
3. Immediately pay compensatory damages to the affected workers; and
4. Immediately pay punitive damages to the affected workers due to the government’s egregious conduct.

“On March 14, during a pre-hearing conference with the Labour Board, we have heard GNB representatives say that they think they it could be until October 2022 until everybody is paid. This is absurd,” said Chris Curran, President of Local 1251.

The Government should have foreseen the need to prepare for eventual retro-pay adjustments. “This was obvious before the strike was even commenced, as the government had let the collective agreements of most locals remain expired for over 4 years,” said Shawna Morton, President of Local 1418.

“In healthcare, where payroll is handled internally and not through Service New Brunswick, they have completed the retro payments for over 9,000 members in Local 1252.  Finance and Treasury Board should have been ready to finish the job on time or in half the time it took in healthcare,” said Brent Wiggins, President of Local 1190.

“Why did they not provide the Service New Brunswick staff who handles the payroll with the proper resources to process it all?” asked Patricia Brewer, President of Local 1840. “Let’s be clear: I don’t blame the Service New Brunswick workers, I blame their employer for setting them up to fail,” she added.

At a hearing before the Labour Board scheduled on Monday, March 21, the CUPE locals will present their arguments in opposition to the employer’s applications in which it seeks an extension of the 90-day deadline for the payment of retroactive monies.  “Every day that goes by is an injustice to workers. We hope for a speedy resolve to this situation,” concluded Drost.