NOVEMBER 19, 2022
Message to CUPE 1253 Members
Your Local Executive has been made aware that the provincial government has had 2 legal opinion memos leaked to the media. In one of those memos dated in June 2022, the government was asking its lawyers to see what hurdles they would face if they did privatization of bussing here in New Brunswick.
The other memo explained the numerous legal and constitutional hurdles Higgs would face if he wanted to impose bilingual bussing through a privatization by September 2023.
Thankfully, your hard-won collective agreement protects you from privatization. The legal memo made this evident. In the Legislature, Higgs said he had asked for those memos because CUPE members are looking for a significant raise in salary. While it’s clear future wage settlements should be fair and reflect rising inflation, we feel Premier Higgs is very much confused on the facts as we are NOT in bargaining and have NOT put forward any proposals or dates in which to bargain as our contract does not expire until March 31, 2024…
Education Minister Bill Hogan said he would not do bilingual buses, but he has not been clear enough on his government’s intention after 2024 for privatization. We will send him a letter asking him to know where he and his government stand on this bad idea.
Our education system needs adequate resources to improve working conditions to deal with the recruitment and retention of staff, like bus drivers. Rest assured, the public support us and knows well our school bussing system is not broken, so we don’t need an imaginary fix.
Your local will remain vigilant and keep you informed on this. To all members, keep up the great work in serving the public and keeping New Brunswick children safe.
In Solidarity,
CUPE 1253 Executive