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Percy Barrett, Opposition Labour Critic and MHA for the District of
Bellevue, is calling on the Williams government to state up front that they
will negotiate in good faith with the NLTA and not impose a contract on them
the way the Government of British Columbia has done to teachers in that
province. "The teachers of this province have reason for concern given the
heavy-handed way in which Danny Williams has dealt with other public sector
employees in this province," said Barrett. "I am hopeful that they have
learned from their mistakes, but given their approach during the recent crab
dispute, I have serious concerns."
In British Columbia, the provincial government imposed a contract on
teachers before their strike began. Last year, the government in this
province pushed legislation through the House of Assembly to impose a
contract on NAPE and CUPE members to end a month long strike even though
workers had voluntarily returned to their jobs.
"I would like for the Premier or the Minister of Labour to commit up
front that they will not impose a settlement in this case. I would like to
hear that commitment from government as a show of good faith before
negotiations begin."
Contact negotiations with teachers, doctors and nurses have been delayed
since the public sector strike last year. Barrett says the increased revenue
government has received in the last year makes it unlikely that they will be
able to claim they don’t have the fiscal capacity to provide increases.
"They went through the charade of commissioning a phoney report on the state
of the provincial finances last year, but I suspect no one will buy that
line this time around."
Last month, the Liberal MHA raised concerns that government’s
heavy-handed approach could result in a shortage of professionals in the
province. "The real danger here is that, unless this province is willing to
invest funds and pay these professionals wages and benefits in the range of
what they would get in other provinces, we will likely face shortages in the
near future. In some areas, we already have experienced difficulty
recruiting and retaining these professionals and government should keep that
in mind as they enter into these negotiations.
"Given the potential problems that could be created for the public of
this province if government uses the same confrontational approach to union
negotiations taken in the past, there needs to be some assurances given that
government will not throw this province in to turmoil again this time
around."
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