Ottawa, November 28, 2022 – In legislation introduced on November 24, the Blaine Higgs Conservative government is taking aim at public service workers and their rights to fair collective bargaining and to take job action. This bill enshrines unfair rules around job action notice, gives the government the ability to bring in non-unionized scab workers and more power to change the work schedules of essential workers.
“This legislation is a direct attack on public service workers,” said Jennifer Carr, President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC). “These are the folks who have worked tirelessly to provide critical services to the people of New Brunswick, particularly over the last few years through the pandemic.”
This legislation comes just weeks after Ontario Conservative Premier Doug Ford pushed through and then quickly repealed controversial and constitutionally-questionable legislation in Ontario. Bill 28 attempted to erase the hard-won labour rights of CUPE education workers and to force them to accept an unfair deal.
“Conservative governments across the country are taking aim at the constitutional rights of workers, and they are starting with their employees in the public service. We know that any attack on one group of workers’ rights is a signal that more are coming,” said Carr. “We must stand up and speak up against this legislation, and push the government to abandon this anti-worker agenda.”
In New Brunswick, PIPSC represents Crown Prosecutors, Crown Counsel, Legal Aid Services employees, agrologists and agronomists, engineers, architects and land surveyors, as well as veterinarians and veterinary pathologists.
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For more information: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (mobile), jfillion@pipsc.ca