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Dear CUPE member,
The use of casual workers by the New Brunswick government is out of hand. More than 3,000 were hired last year. The number of casuals employed in the broader public sector, including hospitals and schools, brings the number to at least 5,000.These are people working side-by-side with you, but without employee
status, no contract rights, no union. Casual workers were meant to be used
for management "flexibility". These days, the use of a large casuat work
force means employers don't have to create secure full-time or part-time
positions.
CASUALS HURT
"I don't like working this way, it's like they own you. You never know when, if or how you will work." Those are the words of someone who has worked for 18 years as a casual.The government says it needs flexibility. But even temporary, part-time or seasonat workers in the world of business and industry have a right to join a union.
What the government calls "flexibility", thousands of N.B. casuals call
hardship. Also, on the job injury rates are higher among casual workers.
MEMBERS HURT
Part-timers lose hours and full-time jobs disappear when casuals are over-used. Casuals are so mis-used in health care that CUPE members in N.B. hospitals have been able to force the creation of hundreds of positions by tracking the use of casuals."There were casuals all over the place," says David Rouse, president of the Council of Hospital Unions. So, we went to our locals and asked the members to keep track of the use of casuals. We kept putting in grievances saying we wanted jobs and we had the documentation to back it up. Once the members saw that we were getting more positions they started calling us with more data."
The Public Service Labour Relations Act denies employee status to casual employees in the public sector. Without employee status they are not permitted to join a union of their choice, a violation of the UN'S International Labour Organization. The N.B. government and its public corporations purposely maniputate the employment of casual employees to frustrate their opportunities to obtain peimanent employment. The government has repeatedly said NO to granting casual workers the right to organize and bargain collectively
The solution is simple: amend the Public Service Labour Relations Act to guarantee employee status to all public sector workers, whether they are employed a day, a week or a month.
CUPE New Brunswick is launching a campaign for the rights of casual workers. We will reach out to casuals to join in the drive to bring integrity back to our workplaces. We will lobby for changes to legislation. We will call for basic human fights for all public sector workers in N.B.
Sincerely
Susan Barton
President
CUPE New Brunswick
opeiu 491
Casuals - Fight-back Facts:
A New Brunswick Federation of Labour Fact Sheet
Fact |
The Public Service Labour Relations Act denies' employee status to casual employees in the public sector. Without employee status casual workers are NOT permitted to join a union of their choice. |
Fact |
CASUALS - part-time workers without employee status - may be hired by government departments, crown corporations, hospital corporations or school hoards, for less than full-time employment, and without the right to benefits enjoyed by other workers doing the same work. At least 9,000 casuals work in the provincial public secton |
Fact |
The New Brunswick Government and its public corporations purposely manipulate the employment of casual employees to frustrate their opportunities to obtain full time employment. This is in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the right of all workers to join a trade union of their choice, |
Fact |
New Brunswick is one of the few provinces that discriminate against casual workers in the public sector. In Saskatchewan and Manitoba, all public employees can belong to a union and bargain collectively. |
Fact |
Union membership does not prohibit an employer, public or private, from negotiating classifications covering part-time, seasonal, casual or other flexible work arrangements. |
Fact |
The New Brunswick government has repeatedly said NO to granting casual workers the right to organize and bargain collectively. Both the Liberals and Conservatives have refused requests for a meeting with union leaders regarding casual workers and other labour law matters. |
It's time to make it fair! |
Brief on Casuals Working in the Public Sector
Full
text of compaint to International Labour Organization
ILO
Ruling
