N.B. Labour Board orders province to recind layoff notices to school library workers
The government has been told to reverse the firing of library workers across three school districts by the New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board (LEB).
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents the workers, filed a complaint with New Brunswick’s Labour and Employment Board (LEB). The decision to reinstate was issued on July 29. The LEB ruled that the province had violated its responsibility to bargain in good faith with CUPE.
The layoff notices came after the province told districts to redirect $43 million of their budgets to increase the number of teachers in classrooms.
The province later reallocated $14.6 million to school districts for this fiscal year, but the districts were not told to reverse the cuts.
“This is a win in my eyes for us,” said CUPE Local 745 President Theresa McAllister, when asked about the LEB ruling. She was initially shocked by the announcement and upset that she learned of the layoffs from staff and media before the school district notified the union.
In April, without warning, Christine Silliphant, a worker at the Hartland Community School Library, was laid off by the Anglophone School District-West (ASD-W). In the following days, similar scenarios played out throughout the province, with layoffs occurring in both Anglophone South and Francophone districts as well.
After the layoffs, an email from the River Valley Sun asking government officials how the decision would impact students was included in a Right to Information request by the CBC. Our newspaper’s inquiry resulted in an email exchange between the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development staff.
The emails revealed that before the district sent out layoff notices, there were no discussions on how the cuts would impact students.
Former teacher and Carleton-Victoria MLA Margaret Johnson says rules are there to be followed.
“I would hope due process is followed and that the labour board seeks to represent the people who are affected most by these decisions,” said Johnson when reached by the River Valley Sun.
As for the union, McAllister hopes that the labour board’s ruling will lead to the workers’ employment being reinstated, but warned that “unless [the government] starts moving relatively fast, it’s going to be a long, drawn-out process.”
The province is reviewing the LEB decision. There is no word on whether they’ll be seeking a judicial review.
