Trampling on Freedom of Association: The arrogance of Stephen McNeil

The McNeil Government is failing Nova Scotians by not asking the courts to test all of Bill 148 against the constitution, says CUPE Nova Scotia President Nan McFadgen. On August 22, the McNeil Government referred parts of Bill 148, the Public Services Sustainability Act, to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to determine the constitutionality of the legislation. However, the government only asked the court to review sections seven through 19. They excluded asking for a review of section 20 and 21 that include freezing the long-service award and strips it from future employees. “How can the Premier expect anyone to have confidence is this piece of legislation if he is unwilling ask the courts for a constitutional review of all of it?” asks McFadgen. “He is clearly afraid of testing legislation that causes harm to tens of thousands of workers and their families.” “The Premier should not cherry-pick which … Read more…

McNeil Government blatantly ignoring lessons of other provinces, moves ahead with attack on working people

The McNeil Government is blindly moving ahead with unconstitutional, anti- worker legislation, without learning any lessons from other provinces in Canada, says the President of CUPE Nova Scotia Nan McFadgen. Today, the McNeil Government proclaimed Bill 148, the Public Services Sustainability Act, capping wage increases and freezing the long-service award as of April 2015. This will affect almost 12,000 CUPE members. Although this move by the province does not officially end bargaining or arbitration, it destroys the rights of union members to fairly negotiate their collective agreements, a constitutional right of all workers protected by the Canadian Charter of Freedoms. This is the same Liberal Government that said, in an open letter to union members in 2013, they would like to “clarify misinformation being circulated,” declaring that they “believe in the collective bargaining process, the right to strike, and protecting workers’ rights, both unionized and non-unionized.” The letter was signed … Read more…

Member Update – August 9, 2017

Dear Sisters and Brothers: As you may have heard, NSGEU met with the province this week in conciliation, in hopes of negotiating their collective agreement. That attempt appears to have failed. NSGEU will now file a request to move negotiations to interest arbitration. We think this a clear indication that the McNeil Government is not interested in bargaining and will continue to force their agenda on unionized workers in the public sector (Bill 148) –  all of this despite having a projected surplus of $150 million. We will continue to watch NSGEU’s civil service negotiations and support our locals as they continue to bargain. Your bargaining teams and staff are working hard to achieve agreements through fair collective bargaining. Please share this update with your members and contact your assigned servicing staff if you have any questions. In solidarity, Carl Crouse Acting Atlantic Regional Director