https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies
David Raymond Amos @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos @Kathryn98967631 and 47 others
Methinks Mr Higgs and CUPE deserve each other N'esy Pas?
https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2019/03/opposition-parties-blame-each-other.html
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/binding-arbitration-nursing-home-1.5077247
Nursing home workers reject Higgs's version of binding arbitration
89 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.
David R. Amos
Content disabled
Methinks Mr Higgs and CUPE deserve each other N'esy Pas?
David R. Amos
Content disabled
Methinks that many should agree that it is rather comical to see that my comment on this issue was blocked N'esy Pas? Alex Forbes
Sorry but glad PA changed their tone. We can't be held hostage by greedy unions
David R. Amos
Reply to @Alex Forbes: Methinks CBC is unionized N'esy Pas?
Rick MacMillan
A fair binding arbitration would be whatever a neutral ARBITRATOR feels is fair and just, not what Premier HIGGS declares is fair and just.
Johnny Horton
David R. Amos
Reply to @daryl doucette: "tax the irvings....then we will be a " have" province"
True
Stanley Beemish
How come these clickbait articles always bring out the same union bashers? NB'ers fighting for what would be Timmie's wage in the rest of the country meanwhile the taxpayer is over a barrel and the Family having their way...
Johnny Horton
Reply to @Stanley Beemish:
Because we live in Nan with NB costs. 50k homes and $600 property tax bills,
Because we live in Nan with NB costs. 50k homes and $600 property tax bills,
David Peters
Reply to @Stanley Beemish: Seems more like the public unions are taking advantage of the
taxpayer...who seem to have no one able to effectively advocate for
them.
David R. Amos
Reply to @David Peters: True but at least I tried
McKenzie King
Greedy unions will ruin this country. They are already getting premium pay for what is generaslly considered unskilled or semi-skilled labour. And they were offered the same raise as similar poositions in the hospitals. Stop your greed!!
David Peters
Reply to @McKenzie King:
Imo, public unions, and the big international unions(auto unions) are hugely responsible for the National debts of many, if not all western gov'ts...federal, provincial and municipal.
This situation is but a tip of an enormous, massive asteroid, sized ice berg.
Imo, public unions, and the big international unions(auto unions) are hugely responsible for the National debts of many, if not all western gov'ts...federal, provincial and municipal.
This situation is but a tip of an enormous, massive asteroid, sized ice berg.
David R. Amos
Reply to @David
Peters: Methinks the capitalists the unions battle are every bit as bad
if not worse but it is the ordinary non unionized taxpayers who suffer
the most N'esy Pas?
David Peters
Another prime example of how gov't is incapable of running a sector. Too much red tape, leads to a situation where...who's really in charge? Meanwhile consumers(patients) and taxpayers have no choice and no voice....and, economically it doesn't have to make sense, bc their budget is politically untouchable.
Another big question here, is how many seniors need care and aren't getting it?...how many are waiting in line?
David R. Amos
Reply to @David Peters: Exactly
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-opposition-parties-blame-collapse-1.5077098
Opposition parties blame each other after united front on binding arbitration falls apart
9 Comments
David R. Amos
Surprise Surprise Surprise
Methinks Sharon Teare should never deny that I talked to her and emailed her before all this nonsense went down but she dismissed me and obviously trusted the wrong politicians N'esy Pas?
Nursing home workers reject Higgs's version of binding arbitration
Premier's conditions would go against spirit of binding arbitration, union says after talks resume
Nursing home workers have rejected the
provincial government's offer from Friday afternoon of binding
arbitration with conditions.
Premier Blaine Higgs said earlier that the government had moved off its position of saying no to binding arbitration but would only go that route under certain conditions.
"We have proposed that the wages of similar jobs in the N.B. public sector and N.B. private sector be the factors considered in this binding arbitration," the Progressive Conservative premier said in a statement.
The New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions, represented by CUPE, said later that it made a counter offer of binding arbitration without those conditions.
"Higgs
thinks he can tie the hands of the arbitrator, so he or she cannot
grant increases of more than 1% per year," Sharon Teare, president of
the council, said in a statement released by CUPE on Friday evening.
The union said it asked for binding arbitration on the issue of wages because it believes significant wage improvements are necessary to address a crisis in recruitment and retention of employees.
"With his declaration, it's clear Premier Higgs wants an illusion of binding arbitration. Government fears an impartial arbitrator — one who hears the arguments of everyone and then decides alone — will also see the ongoing crisis for workers and residents," Teare said.
The disagreement over binding arbitration came after talks resumed Friday morning between nursing home workers and the government after breaking down earlier this week.
On Thursday, an attempt made by the Liberals in the legislature to bring the labour dispute to binding arbitration fell flat after time ran out before the motion could go to a vote.
The motion would not have forced the Progressive Conservative government to do anything, but would have shown all three opposition parties were united in their call for binding arbitration.
A sub-amendment to the motion made by People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin, however, caused controversy and the union, Liberals and Greens accused the party of flip-flopping to help the government.
The Green Party had amended the Liberal's motion urging government to fully fund whatever agreement came out of binding arbitration, to which the People's Alliance added "under terms and conditions acceptable to all negotiating parties, and the province."
Liberal house leader Guy Arseneault said Friday that the sub-amendment would gut binding arbitration by including conditions.
"So the premier may say, well, we don't want to discuss this in binding arbitration, maybe wages, so you can't discuss it."
Teare said conditions go against the spirit of binding arbitration.
"They wouldn't be agreed-to conditions. They would be Mr. Higgs's conditions. And that's not fair."
Teare said binding arbitration with conditions is not binding arbitration.
She said the talks Friday did not result in much movement.
Blaine Higgs said he is confident an agreement will be reached. (CBC)
The
premier predicted earlier in the day he expected a deal would be
reached before May, when the legislature resumes and the Liberal motion
calling for binding arbitration is back on the table.
"Oh, we'll get an agreement," he said. "I am confident that we'll get an agreement. I'm anxious to get it done because it's been going on for too long."
In the interim, the union is waiting for the Court of Appeals to hear a matter April 17 that could determine if the workers can go on strike.
The court will hear a case about whether a lower court judge wrongly denied the province's request for an order effectively preventing the workers at 46 nursing homes from striking.
Premier Blaine Higgs said earlier that the government had moved off its position of saying no to binding arbitration but would only go that route under certain conditions.
"We have proposed that the wages of similar jobs in the N.B. public sector and N.B. private sector be the factors considered in this binding arbitration," the Progressive Conservative premier said in a statement.
The New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions, represented by CUPE, said later that it made a counter offer of binding arbitration without those conditions.
The union said it asked for binding arbitration on the issue of wages because it believes significant wage improvements are necessary to address a crisis in recruitment and retention of employees.
"With his declaration, it's clear Premier Higgs wants an illusion of binding arbitration. Government fears an impartial arbitrator — one who hears the arguments of everyone and then decides alone — will also see the ongoing crisis for workers and residents," Teare said.
Opposition parties can't stick together
The disagreement over binding arbitration came after talks resumed Friday morning between nursing home workers and the government after breaking down earlier this week.
On Thursday, an attempt made by the Liberals in the legislature to bring the labour dispute to binding arbitration fell flat after time ran out before the motion could go to a vote.
The motion would not have forced the Progressive Conservative government to do anything, but would have shown all three opposition parties were united in their call for binding arbitration.
A sub-amendment to the motion made by People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin, however, caused controversy and the union, Liberals and Greens accused the party of flip-flopping to help the government.
Different amendments
The Green Party had amended the Liberal's motion urging government to fully fund whatever agreement came out of binding arbitration, to which the People's Alliance added "under terms and conditions acceptable to all negotiating parties, and the province."
Liberal house leader Guy Arseneault said Friday that the sub-amendment would gut binding arbitration by including conditions.
Teare said conditions go against the spirit of binding arbitration.
"They wouldn't be agreed-to conditions. They would be Mr. Higgs's conditions. And that's not fair."
Teare said binding arbitration with conditions is not binding arbitration.
She said the talks Friday did not result in much movement.
"Oh, we'll get an agreement," he said. "I am confident that we'll get an agreement. I'm anxious to get it done because it's been going on for too long."
In the interim, the union is waiting for the Court of Appeals to hear a matter April 17 that could determine if the workers can go on strike.
The court will hear a case about whether a lower court judge wrongly denied the province's request for an order effectively preventing the workers at 46 nursing homes from striking.
With files from Jacques Poitras/Gabrielle Fahmy
CBC's Journalistic Standards and PracticesOpposition parties blame each other after united front on binding arbitration falls apart
Liberals suspected collusion between People's Alliance and Progressive Conservatives
The three opposition parties in the
legislature pointed fingers at each other Friday after the collapse of
their united front on a wage dispute between nursing home workers and
the province.
The Liberals, Greens and People's Alliance failed to pass a motion late Thursday calling for binding arbitration between the Progressive Conservative government and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
The three parties, who combined have a majority in the house, support the idea but could not agree on the wording. Time ran out before MLAs could vote Thursday evening.
The
Liberals can bring the motion back when the legislature returns in May,
but in the meantime the Liberals are accusing the Alliance of
flip-flopping and abandoning its support for the workers to take sides
with the PCs.
"There's certainly some collusion there between the Alliance and the Conservatives," Liberal house leader Guy Arseneault told reporters. "It was quite obvious to me the Alliance went back on an agreement.
He added: "When the Conservatives want something done in the house and they don't want to take the blame for it, they ask the Alliance to do it."
Austin rejected the criticism in a blunt exchange with reporters.
"The Liberals are going to school me on reversal? Give me a break," he said, pointing out the party was in power for 21 months while CUPE was trying to get a contract.
He said co-operation with the PCs allows his party to push the government toward a deal including wage increases and better working conditions.
Liberal house leader Guy Arseneault said the People's Alliance colluded with the Progressive Conservatives. (Gary Moore/CBC)
"We
are more effective than the Liberals and Greens put together, because
we have the government's ear to move these things forward," he said.
"That's why they're going to be coming back to the table. That's why they're going to be offering something to the workers that we've been working with them on."
Sharon
Teare, president of the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions,
accused Austin of going back on promises he made to the union last week.
"Kris Austin joined an alliance of some sort with Higgs," she said. "I don't know what goes on beyond closed doors, but something shifted from the last time we spoke to what happened yesterday at the [legislature]."
The three opposition parties have a total of 26 MLAs, a majority, and all of them said last week they want Premier Blaine Higgs to send the dispute with unionized nursing home workers to binding arbitration.
The two sides can't agree on a contract and the union's right to strike is now tied up in a court fight.
CUPE supports binding arbitration, but Higgs has refused, predicting an arbitrator would split the difference between the two positions and award a pay raise the province still can't afford.
But on Friday afternoon, Higgs released a statement by email saying the province is now offering binding arbitration, on the condition both sides agree that wages paid for similar work in the province "be the factors considered" by the arbitrator.
That dovetails with the position he took in Thursday's debate on the Liberal motion.
During the debate, the Greens moved an amendment to the Liberal motion that would call for the government to "fully fund" any arbitrator's ruling.
The Alliance responded with a sub-amendment to add a requirement that arbitration take place "under terms and conditions acceptable to all negotiating parties and the province."
The Liberals say that wording "guts" the purpose of binding arbitration by limiting the scope of negotiations in the government's favour.
They say it's another example of the Alliance reversing themselves to bail out the government.
The
union accused the People's Alliance of flip-flopping to side with
government instead of workers with the sub-amendment leader Kris Austin
introduced to the motion for binding arbitration. (CBC)
In
December, the party suggested it might not support the PCs on shale gas
development, but ended up voting for a throne speech amendment
supporting it in the Sussex area.
But Green MLA Kevin Arseneau accused the Liberals of playing political games with the issue as well.
He said two PC MLAs were absent Thursday night when the Alliance moved their sub-amendment, giving the Liberals and the Greens an opening to team up and defeat it.
Arseneau
said he suggested they do that and then try to win Alliance support for
the original motion, but the Liberals rejected that idea, he said,
because they "found it more important to blame the People's Alliance
than do something for the nursing home workers."
Austin insisted his party still supports nursing-home workers but he criticized the CUPE leadership, calling them "impossible to work with" and accusing them of not representing rank-and-file workers.
"The more I meet with these folks, the more I realize why they can't strike a deal," he said. "They're not being rational. They're not coming to the table in good faith."
The Alliance leader said his sub-amendment was reasonable because it would be helpful to establish "a general idea of how the arbitration should move forward" and it recognizes the province's poor fiscal position.
The Liberals and Greens say the outlook for three-party co-operation isn't completely bleak. They and the Alliance passed another motion Thursday calling for for a legislative committee to study adding heavy equipment to property assessments.
But the heated disagreements over the binding-arbitration motion suggest that may be an exception.
Green MLA Kevin Arseneau accused the Liberals of playing political games with the issue as well. (YouTube/David Coon)
Arseneau
refused to even attend last week's joint Green-Alliance news conference
on binding arbitration because he objects to Alliance positions on
bilingualism. At the same time, Austin vetoed the idea of inviting the
Liberals to take part.
"There are some differences in what we're there for and our strategies," Arseneau said. "We're all getting used to this minority government."
Higgs said Friday that it may not be necessary to resume debate on the Liberal motion in May because he expects there'll be a deal with the union by then.
The Liberals, Greens and People's Alliance failed to pass a motion late Thursday calling for binding arbitration between the Progressive Conservative government and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
The three parties, who combined have a majority in the house, support the idea but could not agree on the wording. Time ran out before MLAs could vote Thursday evening.
"There's certainly some collusion there between the Alliance and the Conservatives," Liberal house leader Guy Arseneault told reporters. "It was quite obvious to me the Alliance went back on an agreement.
He added: "When the Conservatives want something done in the house and they don't want to take the blame for it, they ask the Alliance to do it."
Austin rejected the criticism in a blunt exchange with reporters.
"The Liberals are going to school me on reversal? Give me a break," he said, pointing out the party was in power for 21 months while CUPE was trying to get a contract.
Co-operation will push for deal
He said co-operation with the PCs allows his party to push the government toward a deal including wage increases and better working conditions.
"That's why they're going to be coming back to the table. That's why they're going to be offering something to the workers that we've been working with them on."
"Kris Austin joined an alliance of some sort with Higgs," she said. "I don't know what goes on beyond closed doors, but something shifted from the last time we spoke to what happened yesterday at the [legislature]."
Liberals introduce motion
The three opposition parties have a total of 26 MLAs, a majority, and all of them said last week they want Premier Blaine Higgs to send the dispute with unionized nursing home workers to binding arbitration.
The two sides can't agree on a contract and the union's right to strike is now tied up in a court fight.
CUPE supports binding arbitration, but Higgs has refused, predicting an arbitrator would split the difference between the two positions and award a pay raise the province still can't afford.
But on Friday afternoon, Higgs released a statement by email saying the province is now offering binding arbitration, on the condition both sides agree that wages paid for similar work in the province "be the factors considered" by the arbitrator.
That dovetails with the position he took in Thursday's debate on the Liberal motion.
Greens, Alliance wanted amendments
During the debate, the Greens moved an amendment to the Liberal motion that would call for the government to "fully fund" any arbitrator's ruling.
The Alliance responded with a sub-amendment to add a requirement that arbitration take place "under terms and conditions acceptable to all negotiating parties and the province."
The Liberals say that wording "guts" the purpose of binding arbitration by limiting the scope of negotiations in the government's favour.
They say it's another example of the Alliance reversing themselves to bail out the government.
But Green MLA Kevin Arseneau accused the Liberals of playing political games with the issue as well.
He said two PC MLAs were absent Thursday night when the Alliance moved their sub-amendment, giving the Liberals and the Greens an opening to team up and defeat it.
Austin insisted his party still supports nursing-home workers but he criticized the CUPE leadership, calling them "impossible to work with" and accusing them of not representing rank-and-file workers.
"The more I meet with these folks, the more I realize why they can't strike a deal," he said. "They're not being rational. They're not coming to the table in good faith."
The Alliance leader said his sub-amendment was reasonable because it would be helpful to establish "a general idea of how the arbitration should move forward" and it recognizes the province's poor fiscal position.
Co-operation exception to rule
The Liberals and Greens say the outlook for three-party co-operation isn't completely bleak. They and the Alliance passed another motion Thursday calling for for a legislative committee to study adding heavy equipment to property assessments.
But the heated disagreements over the binding-arbitration motion suggest that may be an exception.
"There are some differences in what we're there for and our strategies," Arseneau said. "We're all getting used to this minority government."
Higgs said Friday that it may not be necessary to resume debate on the Liberal motion in May because he expects there'll be a deal with the union by then.
About the Author
An arbitrator doesn’t care if a province has to declare bankruptcy,
Maybe you should check what your local Irving gas station pays your community in property tax. Employee taxes. And generates sales tax wise.
I’m not helping anyone. I’m stating facts.
Personally though I’m not a huge fan of the “that person is richer than me, so they should pay more so I have more”. I’ll live within my own means, thanks.