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NSGEU civil service bargaining reaches impasse

Major outstanding issues remain on the table for members of the civil service in Nova Scotia.

Halifax (08 March 2013) – Bargaining for civil service members of the Nova Scotia Government & General Employees Union (NSGEU/NUPGE) has reached an impasse after four months at the table.

Civil Service negotiations began on October 2, 2012 and continued until March 4. There have been approximately 20 days of negotiations, many of which until very recently focused on dealing with non-monetary, operational provisions of the collective agreement.

In the last few sessions considerable time was spent discussing wages and other issues which the employer viewed as monetary, such as vacations, mileage and meals. These discussions also included the continuation of the enhanced job security provisions which were negotiated in 2010 and continue to provide essential job protection for NSGEU/NUPGE members.

The employer does not agree to provide any monetary improvements beyond salary increases of two per cent, 2.5 per cent and three per cent in a three-year agreement and agrees to only a slight increase in shift and weekend premiums. Also, the employer does not agree to extend the present job security provisions beyond March 31, 2014.

Due to such major outstanding matters the union concluded the March 4 bargaining session without a package that it believes can be recommended to the membership for acceptance.

The union is now in the process of arranging to meet with the Bargaining Unit Negotiating Council (BUNC) at the earliest possible date to evaluate the present state of negotiations to determine if outstanding matters should be voted on by the membership and forwarded to interest arbitration.

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE