News Release
Office of the Official Opposition
 

Finance Minister now willing to listen to public sector workers?
February 10th, 2004

Anna Thistle, Opposition Finance and Treasury Board Critic and MHA for the District of Grand Falls-Buchans, says she wonders if Minister Sullivan is truly serious about listening to the concerns of public servants as they try to find efficiencies within government. Ms. Thistle was responding to a press release issued by the minister Tuesday afternoon.

"How can the public servants of this province take Minister Sullivan’s request seriously?" asked Ms. Thistle. "We are currently going through a process where the premier and minister unilaterally announced a wage freeze and pension reduction without consulting public servants, now they expect public servants to believe that their opinions will be valuable? If Minister Sullivan wants to regain the trust of government workers, the first step should be a collective bargaining process that is in good faith.

"I doubt Minister Sullivan is serious about using this process to find solutions. I believe this is another public relations exercise of this government, similar to the pre-budget consultations held over the past several weeks."

 

Media Contact:
Darrell Mercer
Director of Communications
Office of the Official Opposition
709-729-6151 or 709-687-0477