Stephen Drost, the president of CUPE New Brunswick, speaks during a virtual news conference on Sept. 22, 2021. (Image: Zoom video capture)
Four more CUPE New Brunswick locals have given an overwhelming strike mandate, according to the union.
Members of locals 1251, 1253, 1418, and 2745 voted between 91 and 98 per cent in favour of strike action.
The strike vote results were released Wednesday during a news conference held by CUPE NB.
“This is the last thing in the world these groups want to do, but they feel they’re being forced into this situation by the premier, who simply will not negotiate good, fair wages,” Stephen Drost, president of CUPE NB, said Wednesday.
The locals represent thousands of public-sector workers including correctional officers, school bus drivers, school custodians, educational support staff, social workers and probation officers, among others.
They join three other locals — 1840, 1866 and 5017 — who gave strong strike mandates last week.
Members of three other locals, including close to 11,000 healthcare workers, will vote over the coming weeks.
Drost said CUPE sent another letter to the premier late Tuesday asking him to come back to the bargaining table.
But he said if the union does not get a fair deal, their locals would be ready to take job action in October.
That could include work-to-rule action, rotational strikes, or a province-wide strike where they would pull “all services at the same time,” he said.
“It would be in education, it would be in health, it would be in social services, it would be in transportation, communication.”
“These 22,000 members, or 10 locals, basically are working in pretty well every public sector within this province, so it would have a pretty significant impact,” said Drost.
The province’s most recent offer included a nine per cent wage increase over six years, while the union is seeking 20 per cent over four years.
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