N.B. union members hold Labour Day march, reflect on 2021 public sector strike

As union members marched down the streets of Saint John Monday, the experiences of the last year aren’t far from their minds.

Last fall, over 20,000 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees walked off the job for 16 days after contract talks broke down with the government.

The locals represented approximately 20,000 workers in the education, health and public service sectors, including road maintenance and parks workers, correctional officers, social workers, court stenographers, laundry workers, school custodians and bus drivers, education assistants, patient care attendants and food and environmental service workers in hospitals, among others.

President of the Saint John District Labour Council Shawn Gorman Wetmore says there are a lot of lessons to take away from the experience.

“It’s a fight every time people go to contracts,” she said.

“Nothing is handed out anymore.”

The union had initially asked for raises of five per cent each year of a four-year contract, which ran counter to requests from premier Blaine Higgs that new union contracts be kept to three per cent wage increases for the entirety of a four-year deal. Ultimately, the union ratified a five-year contract with two per cent wage increases each year, on top of yearly 25-cent-an-hour wage bumps.

The bitter 16-day strike shuttered schools and saw massive protests outside the New Brunswick Legislature. The Higgs government also faced criticism for using the province’s COVID-19 emergency order to get administrative health-care staff back to work after they walked off the job.

The negotiations and subsequent strike drew attention to the labour movement across the country. CUPE Ontario donated $50,000 to CUPE NB to support their efforts to secure a better deal.

“We were the go-to to find out how it was done and how it was done right because we were only on strike for almost two and a half weeks and we got what we wanted,” said Wetmore.

Lily Chang, the secretary treasurer for the Canadian Labour Congress, was in Saint John for the Labour Day parade and said the New Brunswick labour movement should be instructive to other parts of the country.

“I think that all workers and all unions need to take note and see what can happen when you have solidarity, when you stick together and tow the line and say we’re not going to give in and take any cutbacks,” she said.

1:45 CUPE New Brunswick files grievance after retroactive pay delayed