Friday 25 September 2020

Six months later: Union says employees at N.B. entry points face burnout

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From: "Higgs, Premier Blaine (PO/CPM)" <
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Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2020 11:54:23 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: Methinks the dragonslayer Madame Conroy
should cross the floor because I have no doubt Higgy would make her
the Minister of Heritage immediately N'esy Pas?
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>

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---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2020 08:54:17 -0300
Subject: Methinks the dragonslayer Madame Conroy should cross the
floor because I have no doubt Higgy would make her the Minister of
Heritage immediately N'esy Pas?
To: Blaine.Higgs@gnb.ca, premier.ministre@gnb.ca,
voteryancullins@outlook.com, roy4fgl@gmail.com, "kris.austin"
<kris.austin@gnb.ca>, "rick.desaulniers" <rick.desaulniers@gnb.ca>,
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Replying to   @alllibertynews and 49 others 
Content disabled
Cry me a river
 


#cdnpoli #nbpoli


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/burnout-border-restrictions-new-brunswick-1.5735351


Six months later: Union says employees at N.B. entry points face burnout

Department of Public Safety employees doing border screening need relief, union says

 

Tori Weldon · CBC News · Posted: Sep 24, 2020 7:00 AM AT

 


People entering New Brunswick are asked questions as part of the province's efforts to keep COVID-19 from spreading. Most of the people working at entry points have been removed from their normal duties in government. (Serge Bouchard/Radio-Canada)

Six months after the province enacted border controls to slow the spread of COVID-19, the union representing most Department of Public Safety employees says it's time to send in reinforcements.

In March, provincial employees were reassigned to screen people wanting to enter the province at one of 11 points of entry, including three airports and the ferry terminal in Saint John.

Susie Proulx-Daigle, president of the New Brunswick Union of Public and Private Employees, said about 100 of her members have been affected, and pulling double duty is taking its toll.

"There's so much burnout," she said.

Union president Susie Proulx-Daigle said about 100 of her members have been trying to do two jobs at once and its taking a toll. (CBC)

"People are out on leave, people are sick," she added, which only exacerbates the problem.

Forest rangers, conservation officers, commercial vehicle enforcement officers, off road vehicle enforcement officers, national safety code investigators, general investigative service members, corrections officers,  sheriffs, public health inspectors and administrative staff have been recruited to work at the border.   

Proulx-Daigle said that when the province declared a state of emergency, the union was flexible.


Employees from correctional services, sheriff services and provincial enforcement programs like conservation, highway safety, and off-road safety have been reassigned to screen people at the province's points of entry. (CBC/Alexandre Silberman)

"The government asked us to sign on to a mobility agreement, where they can reassign people to different duties as needed," which the union did.

"And they've been going full out since March, since this all started."

The borders are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with shifts starting at  7 a.m. and 7 p.m. lasting 12 hours.

Proulx-Daigle said most of her members work at the border four days in a row, then have four days off, but that's not where the work ends.

"During the four off, they need to put in some [time] to try and and at least touch the surface of what's going on in their regular job," she said.

 

The province has set up checkpoints at 11 points of entry, including airports and the ferry terminal in Saint John. (CBC)

She said she's heard that some union members have been denied vacation time this summer because of short staffing, and others were only able to take a maximum of one week.

"Usually during the summer, that's when they get they get a chance to kind of R and R," she said.

"But they haven't had that this year."

Relief could be on the way in the form of new hires.

The province released the COVID-19 Fall Pandemic Response and Preparedness Plan 2020 mid-August.

It states that border screenings will most likely last "well into 2021" when New Brunswick's, "population and health-care system [are]no longer under significant threat from COVID-19."


A long line of traffic, on the left, heads toward a checkpoint to enter New Brunswick on July 8. (Alexandre Silberman/CBC)

The document also concedes that there were, "stressors becoming evident," to the border-control staffing plan, making it necessary to recruit more people. 

Coreen Enos, a communications officer with the Department of Public Safety, wrote in an email that 43 new armed peace officers have been hired and trained.

The pandemic response plan said the goal was to have Public Safety running at, "50 per cent of its traditional capacity for enforcement of provincial legislation," with all the hiring and training completed "by September."

No one from the department was made available to say if the goal was reached, or if more recruiting is being done. 

Proulx-Daigle said the new recruits are a positive step, and she hopes there are more on the way to relieve overworked employees.


Compliance officers check vehicles at the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border near Amherst. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)

"They're very committed to their job," she said.

But before the pandemic, these employees were doing important work in many areas, such as food inspection, road safety, and enforcing wildlife legislation.

"It's important they get back to where they they need to be, which is the job they were hired to do," said Proulx-Daigle.

About the Author

Tori Weldon

Reporter

Tori Weldon is a reporter based in Moncton. She's been working for the CBC since 2008.

 

 
 
 
 
 
123 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.
 
 
 
 
 
David Amos
Content disabled
Cry me a river
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Steve Ryan
Don't complain too loud. There are many people out there with no jobs.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
JoeBrown
Maybe they need a course in how easy it is to pay your bills from the paycheque that arises after you do your simple job. They have absolute authority so should relax and explain the issues to people without stressing.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wayne Mac Arthur
Susie needs more members paying more dues. No dues paid on OT.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bob Sacamanau 
Nobody going out to maritimes at this time of year, take them down
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bill Vasseur 
They think they're stressed out now wait till it's time to negotiate a new contract with that penny pinching Higgs, that will really stress them out.
 
 
David Peters
Reply to @Bill Vasseur:
The Saint John Harbour PC MLA was a union boss for a long time, fyi.
 
 
Rob Leblanc
Reply to @David Peters: Sounds about right. Union bosses tend not give a snot about the little guy.
 
 
Steve Ryan
Reply to @David Peters:
And now he'll be seeing the other side of the coin.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
James Smythe  
Great, so open the “borders” then. This has gone on for about 4 months too long already.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rob LeBlanc 
Not sure if it was a conscious editorial decision to stop using the term 'borders' and opt for 'entry points' instead, but if it was I'm sure that this subtle change is appreciated by sensible NBers and other Canadians who believe in the rule of law.
 
 
Anne Bérubé  
Reply to @Rob LeBlanc: But you can fly in and out of this country. Sure the borders are closed....
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Alison Jackson 
I am on the front lines in my company trying to keep people away from each other, wearing masks, hygiene sanitizing, actively testing anyone who needs to enter the facility. It's hard work and extremely mentally exhausting especially with the people who don't give a s***. I'm not unionized and against unions in many ways, but I can sympathize with the border workers.
 
 
Carl Bainbridge 
Reply to @Alison Jackson: It is times like this when you start to understand how important a strong worker centric union actually is.
 
 
JoeBrown
Reply to @Alison Jackson: Your job is challenging arguing with customers, but border guards have 100% authority so must have soft skins if they are stressed out telling people this. "Nope, you can't get in because you don't have the right papers." BGs job complaint is similar to a custom officer saying he is burnt out, when he has all the authority in the world.
 
 
JoeBrown  
Reply to @Carl Bainbridge: Maybe they need a course in how easy it is to pay your bills from the paycheque that arises after you do your simple job.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rudy Hicks 
Need to support these folks on the front line, doing very important work.
 
 
Rob LeBlanc
Reply to @Rudy Hicks: The important work is being done by us, everyday NBers. Having guns and uniforms doesn't automatically make work 'important', and in this case it makes it superfluous and heavy-handed. 
 
 
Dan Short
Reply to @Rudy Hicks:
Let's see grocery store worker making 25k a year vs desk jockeys on the border msking 60k a year before overtime...
 
 
Rob LeBlanc 
Reply to @Dan Short: Here! Here!
 
 
Wayne Wright  
Reply to @Dan Short: your numbers are really overblown.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Brian Robertson
Unions always say crap like that.
It's in their DNA.
 
 
Dan Short 
Reply to @Brian Robertson:
The problem with unions today is that they are big business. It's not about the employee but how to make more money to keep the organization going,
 
 
Jake Quinlan 
Reply to @Dan Short: The formula is: maximum # full time/part-time permanent employees X maximum hourly pre-overtime wage X maximum % skimmed off of GROSS (not net) pre-overtime wages earned as union dues = maxium revenue for the union. Everytime a union boss opens her/his mouth, this is being calculated in her/his brain.
 
 
Dan Short  
Reply to @Jake Quinlan:

Yep.
 
 
Wayne Wright
Reply to @Jake Quinlan: crazy comment
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kimberley Trenholm
Wow, I can’t believe we are having a discussion about masking 2 year olds. Toddlers are unpredictable. They rarely sit still, turn their noses at food and medications, nap times, bedtimes. They are predictably unpredictable. In some countries, and airlines, the age requirement is a lot higher. It’s not a universal requirement at two. I fear the adult who sits next to me on a plane more, who has been God knows where, and removes the mask to eat. A two year old is less likely to transmit the virus. Honestly, there are meditating circumstances for some people having to fly with children. A sibling on a waiting list for surgery trumps all your insensitive paranoid delusions. The problem lay within the airline, not you Karen’s who now are desensitized. Age of entitlement? That’s your rebuttal? Who the heck made them that way???

 

 

 

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