An internal email from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure has some New Brunswickers worried about snowplow service in rural areas of the province.
The email circulated to MLAs in early December says that rural service could be affected should snowplow drivers go on strike in the new year.
The email even floated the possibility that lower levels of service could extend past any period of labour unrest.
According to the email, some lower-volume roads wouldn’t be plowed until after the end of a storm, but goes on to say that it may not be worth it to return to normal service after a strike ended.
“The question around whether these provide value for money has been brought up and as a consequence discussion on whether these could be extended beyond a strike have been held,” reads the email.
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Liberal Francine Landry, MLA Madawaska Les Lacs-Edmundston, says service interruptions to rural areas are unacceptable.
“We’re not citizens of second class, we need the same level of service that is available elsewhere in the province,” Landry said.
“Whether you live in the city or are in the rural areas, it’s a matter of safety.”
Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Bill Oliver said Tuesday that the department is not looking at cutting services, but is examining what may need to happen should a strike take place.
“What we’re talking about is the fact that we’re always going to maintain the roads in the province, it’s just when we’re going to maintain them and that’s really what we were talking about,” he said.
But the president of the local union representing snowplow drivers says a strike would only have a minimal impact to service.
“The roads have still got to be open, school buses, ambulances, all that kind of stuff,” said Brent Wiggins, president of CUPE Local 1190.
“These members live in these communities. They’re not going to put their family members or people that live in the community in any kind of a serious situation. They’re going to make sure that things are taken care of and cleaned up.”
The union intends to hold a strike vote but is waiting on two rulings from the labour board regarding the inclusion of part-time members in the vote and the ability to cast online ballots.
Talks with the treasury board have broken down. The union is looking for a 12 per cent pay increase over four years while the government has offered a 0.5 per cent increase every six months over the same period.
According to Wiggins, drivers haven’t seen a pay increase in the last 12 years.
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Wiggins says workplace conditions, driver fatigue and recruitment and retention issues figure to have a bigger impact on provincial snow clearing operations than a strike would.
“Folks aren’t getting that opportunity to have that chance to recuperate, they’re running exhausted,” Wiggins said.
“It’s just a nasty circle that we’re in. It’s going to snow in New Brunswick, it needs to be plowed, the people need to be taken care of, our guys can do it, they’re just kind of hoping that they could be seeing a little bit more of a wage increase in the process.”
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