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Placentia situation to worsen if urgent government action not taken: NAPE

Without workers to maintain area roads, NAPE/NUPGE is concerned with upcoming closure of Placentia highway depot.

St. John's (13 April 2012) - The current situation in Placentia will only worsen if action is not taken by government to ensure significant road maintenance over the coming months, warns Carol Furlong, President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE/NUPGE).

“Since the residents of Placentia are forced to use a secondary, unpaved, gravel road, government must address the need for a proper maintenance crew to ensure the secondary road is maintained over the summer,” said Furlong.

“The highway depot located in Placentia is scheduled for closure in the near future and unless government reverses its decision and leaves the workers there to carry out much needed work and maintenance, we predict that the situation for the residents of Placentia will only get worse,” stated Furlong. “The people of Placentia will have to rely on highway workers from the Whitbourne depot who cannot possibly carry out the major work required in the Placentia area and maintain their own area as well.”

Furlong added, “There is a possibility that suppliers of goods and services to the area will refuse to travel over such a gravel road, particularly if highway workers are not left in place to continually upgrade and maintain it. Surely, at a time when our province has a booming economy, the people of the province deserve better.”

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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