Déjà vu: another CUPE strike on the horizon?

One of the New Brunswick CUPE locals in the historic 2021 strike could be on the picket line again soon if an impasse with the provincial government remains unresolved.

At a media event in Fredericton on July 3, CUPE 1190 President Jonathan Guimond said that if the government fails to bring an improved wage offer to the bargaining table after 19 months of negotiations, the union members could be on strike at the end of the month.

The CUPE local for general labour and trades unites 2,100 workers across the province in jobs as diverse as plumbers and electricians, park maintenance, construction, highway sign supervisors, forestry workers, artisans and security officers.

When these workers went on strike in October 2021, their collective agreement had been expired for almost four years. This meant that after the strike ended and the new backdated agreement was signed, they were at the bargaining table again within the year.

Recruitment and retention are challenging in certain job classifications. “It’s like a revolving door because members are not staying in these positions due to the lack of decent wages,” said Guimond. The wage differential with workers in the private sector and some municipalities in New Brunswick in the trades and other sectors is as much as $10 an hour.

The median wage for a CUPE 1190 member is $25.44 an hour. In the lower-paid classifications, such as park employees and labourers, more than half the members earn as little as $20.67 an hour. The highest-paid classification, communications supervisors, earn $33.33 an hour. The government’s last offer would add a $3.25 an hour increase after four years to a member earning the median wage.

“We surveyed the membership, and they were clear: the last offer presented by the employer was not acceptable,” said Guimond. In response, CUPE presented the government “a very reasonable one-time offer” of a $6 an hour wage increase and other benefits over four years to avoid the possibility of a work stoppage. Guimond said it was “a fair offer for both parties that would address the retention and recruitment and give the members of 1190 the opportunity to have a real living wage.”

The province turned down the union’s wage offer on June 28 and CUPE filed for a deadlock.

A strike at the end of July, at the height of tourist season, would impact provincial parks, ferries, and provincial road and bridge repairs and operations.

Susan O’Donnell writes for the NB Media Co-op.