Only one holdout when 11 CUPE locals voted on deal with N.B. government

The union local representing school bus drivers, custodians and maintenance workers was the only public-sector local to reject the tentative contract agreement reached with the New Brunswick government.

Ten of the 11 Canadian Union of Public Employees locals have voted to ratify the tentative agreements reached last weekend, CUPE officials announced at a news conference Friday.

Local 1253 president Iris Lloyd said the agreement presented to her group was not clear enough on possible changes related to their pension plan.

She said it does not explain whether the agreement means their pension will be converted to shared risk, stay on the same model or become a hybrid model.

"We will go back to the table," she said at the news conference.

Lloyd said that as long as the province goes back to the bargaining table, "we are more than willing" to keep working and keep schools open.

She said workers don't want to go back to the picket lines immediately.

"We believe that we're going to be able to settle a deal ... if there's a time when negotiations seems to cease

A provincial news release said officials from the government and CUPE 1253 will meet Friday "to allow the union to provide more information."

Lloyd said her members need to see language that "protects them" from a shared-risk model that they don't want.

On Monday, 22,000 workers returned to the job after going on strike Oct. 29.

The public servants, including school bus drivers, educational support staff and workers in transportation, corrections and the community college system, were asking for higher wages.

The strike by custodians and bus drivers in particular had a large impact because schools could not be open without the cleaning needed to reduce COVID-19 exposure risk, according to Education Minister Dominic Cardy.

Accepted offer

The government proposal accepted by the 10 locals includes "better" wages, according to CUPE president Steve Drost.

Workers will get wage increases of two per cent a year, plus a 25-cent-an-hour raise, over a five-year contract. The agreements also says all casuals will start getting paid 100 per cent of the regular rate.

The union was asking for a three per cent increase over four years, which Drost said the union effectively got.

"It wasn't a concession," he said.

Drost said if Local 1253 goes on strike again the other 22,000 workers "will support them 100 per cent, whatever they choose to do."

When it comes to whether all will go on strike in solidarity, "we will cross that bridge when we get to it," he said.

Some support staff in the health-care sector were on strike but were ordered back to work by the province after one week. The union has filed a lawsuit against the province because of the mandate, but may or may not drop it depending on the results of the ratification vote.

As part of the tentative agreement, locals 2745 and 1253, arrived at a proposed memorandum of agreement regarding pension plans. The details of the wage and pension offer has not been publicly shared by CUPE or the province.

Local 2745, representing educational assistants and other school support staff, accepted the memorandum of agreement that the other local rejected.

Despite large percentages of workers being designated essential, and therefore unable to strike, the picketing caused disruptions in services such as COVID-19 assessment centres and vaccine clinics, according to the province.