Members of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) have rejected a tentative contract with the government. Union members voted 94 per cent against the deal.
NSGEU President Jason MacLean said Wednesday that the union would like to go back to the table.
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“What we want to do right now is go back to the table and do real bargaining. The government hasn’t been able to achieve a deal with any union,” MacLean said.
He said the union, which represents 7,600 civil servants in the province, wants to maintain what they currently have in their collective agreement.
On Monday, MacLean told Global News he hoped his union would reject the deal, which, like the teachers contract would see a wage freeze for two years followed by a three per cent increase over the last two years. It would also have ended the long service award retroactive to 2015.
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Nova Scotia Finance Minister Randy Delorey said Wednesday he’s “disappointed” in the rejection vote.
“That’s unfortunate news. I’m disappointed that, what I believe was a fair offer, one that was affordable to Nova Scotians, and fair to the employees, was rejected,” he said.
Delorey said the government’s “fiscal position has been very clear” when it comes to sitting down with the union to come to an agreement.
“That means that any plan that comes forward that gets negotiated has to respect our ability to pay and not risk our fiscal plan. So, within those parameters, we’ve been willing to negotiate with bargaining units all along and a number of them have ratified those agreements,” he said.
The union maintains they’re dedicated to, and waiting for a signal from the government on bargaining for wages — to which Delorey said the government has already bargained on.
“It’s public knowledge that when we came to the table last year, we came to the table with an offer of two per cent over five years. What was negotiated that went into this tentative agreement was an offer that resulted in thre eper cent over four years,” he said.
“We’ve been bargaining and we have negotiated and we’ve got to a position that we believe is fair and affordable.”
Delorey said it’s too early to say whether the government will proclaim the contentious wage legislation, Bill 148, in light of this recent set back.
The union originally recommended members accept the contract offer, however after teachers rejected a similar one, the NSGEU reversed its recommendation.
Sixty-two per cent of eligible NSGEU members voted on the tentative agreement.
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