N.L. government invites 2 unions to begin contract talks
Finance minister says 26 collective agreements expire in 2016
The Newfoundland and Labrador minister of finance has invited two unions to formally begin contract talks later this month.
Cathy Bennett said in a news release Friday that invitations were extended to the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE) and to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
"Our government will be engaging with our public sector unions in a fair and responsible dialogue about our province's future and the issues we face. We look forward to bargaining in good faith with our fiscal challenges in mind," Bennett wrote in the release.
The talks will take place against the "backdrop of a very serious financial situation," she warned, adding that government's bargaining team will be looking for "productive ways to reach collective agreements that are fair to employees while being prudent and responsible in the spending of taxpayer dollars."
NAPE president Jerry Earle said Friday that bargaining could be tough, but he declined to comment on specifics of what could become thorny issues.
Earle said he doubts the two sides will exchange proposals by the end of September. He said the union's bargaining team has not yet met with government to define the overall scope of the talks.
"The minister needs to understand first we don't even have a protocol agreement agreed to. You can't go into collective bargaining and have it wide open where the union or employer can just keep adding things to table, so there's a number of things you have to work out," he said.
The provincial government spends $3.8 billion annually on employee salaries and benefits — 45 per cent of total expenses, according to Bennett.
There are 26 collective agreements expiring in 2016, with teachers and police officers, among other groups.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Registered Nurses Union chose to extend its existing contract for a year, after the government missed the deadline to apply for bargaining.
The government has hired St. John's law firm McInnes Cooper to advise in what's expected to be a tough round of bargaining.