July 2018 Report from NSFL President Danny Cavanagh
What a summer it is! The weather has been warm, and I hope that you have been able to enjoy some time off.
The month was hot and fairly busy with a bit of downtime for me. We took four of our grandkids and drove to Toronto and back in a week. It was a lot of fun and I never dreamed teenagers could eat so much. We have wonderful memories from this family trip.
Unfortunately, I came down with something coming home and didn’t get to the Pride Parade in Truro. Although it is still bothering my breathing and I have a slight cough, it seems to be on the mend.
August 1st marks the first day of Paul Wozney’s term as newly elected president of the Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union (NSTU). We wish Brother Wozney all the best and look forward to working with him and the NSTU Executive Board and the new Executive Director.
We did a conference call with the unions who have members working at the two Hospitals closing in Sydney. We have arranged for the union leaders to meet with government officials to seek some clarity on the many questions people have on the announcement.
The Federation of Labour Presidents met in St. Andrews, New Brunswick in conjunction with the Council of the Federation (COF) also known as “Canada’s Premiers”. The COF is an organization which supports top-level provincial-territorial (PT) relations in Canada. It was founded in 2003 as a formalization of the Annual Premiers’ Conference, which had occurred annually from 1960 to 2003. Although frequently focused on the federal government, COF also serves as an increasingly important forum for provincial-territorial relations (separate from the federal government) in Canada.
The New Brunswick Federation of Labour hosted the Labour Federation Presidents from across the country. Some national union leaders also attend this, as did the CLC.
The week started with a welcome dinner for Federation Presidents and a welcome reception hosted by the New Brunswick Federation of Labour. The following day the presidents gave provincial updates, then we heard from the Hon. Gilles LePage, New Brunswick Minister of Labour, Employment and Population Growth. We had a discussion about intimate partner violence leave with a presentation from Beth Lyons, New Brunswick Women’s Council and Sister Mary Shortall, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour.
The following day we heard from Linda Silas, the President of the Canadian Federation of Nurses’ Unions (CFNU) on the major work their union is doing on Pharmacare. That was followed with a meeting with CLC President Hassan Yussuff, followed by a briefing with CUPE’s national president, Mark Hancock.
We then had a presentation on cannabis from Brenda Comeau from the law firm Pink Larkin, followed by our meeting with the Premiers. I did a media release after the premier’s meeting which is on our website. Feel free to use any of the NS numbers in that release on social media.
The following day we attended the CFNU Breakfast meeting along with all the premiers. We heard from Dr. Eric Hoskins, Chair of the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, and Kevin Page, former Parliamentary Budget Officer. The Premiers then held their closing news conference.
I attended the Halifax Pride Parade but was unable to walk the route. It was an excellent event and it was so great to see a large participation of unions and members. Many unions marched in front of the CUPE van and some others with floats followed the van, so for the most part, we were all together.
NSGEU Local 67 membership has voted 88% in favour of a tentative agreement. The new agreement contains a new provision for general leave, a commitment to an intimate partner violence policy and paid leave provision, a new Registered Retirement Savings Plan, and a 10% increase in wages over a 7-year period. Good on them for this settlement.
I met with Denise Peterson Rafuse recently. Many of you will recall she represented the electoral district of Chester-St. Margaret's in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 2009-2017 as a member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party and served as Minister of Community Services, Minister responsible for Seniors and the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, and chair of the Senior Citizens' Secretariat. Denise is trained in the field of communications. She is willing to work and assist any unions in many parts of campaigns you may have happening.
CUPE local 4814 has held three days of bargaining and one day of conciliation have failed. The union represents crosswalk guards with the Halifax Regional Municipality. The members are asking for parity of wages with their counterparts in Cape Breton, based on annual salary. The union will be requesting a meeting with Mayor Mike Savage in the near future.
On July 30th, members of CUPE 4764 were on the picket line at 8 am. The members are caseworkers employed by the Community Justice Society (CJS), began job action on July 30, after sending a 48-hour strike notice to the Nova Scotia Minister of Labour and Advanced Education. The strike will leave restorative justice clients and communities without options, and interrupt court dates. Please stop by the picket line and bring your banners, flags and signs to show your support for these five women and one man!
More trouble is brewing in Cape Breton as Logistic Corporation, which operates the international coal pier, lost the 18-year contract they had for management of the international pier and the Nova Scotia Power associated rail operations. The contract was awarded to Savage CANAC Corp., in which representatives with two unions say will mean a loss of jobs for many of their unionized workers. The Savage CANAC Corp is an American corporation. We have been in touch with the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and will reach out to the other unions as things unfold.
The other story at Donkin Mine is that the operators of the Mine, Cameron Collieries face charges in its employment of Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW). The company is appealing the charges. It was about a year and a half ago when we did a press conference in Sydney on the issues of Donkin and its employment of TFW. We will continue to work with the union on this and continue to raise the issues with the government’s TFW Programme.
The unions in the Acute Care Sector have been working hard in preparing for a mediation-arbitration hearing that took place in the last week of July with mediator-arbitrator William Kaplan. Mr. Kaplan has provided dates for mediation/arbitration for all four bargaining units. The Health Care Bargaining Unit mediation/arbitration will run from July 30 to August 3. Mr. Kaplan has indicated he expects to issue a decision shortly after August 3.
Support Services will go into mediation/arbitration next, with the Administrative Professional Bargaining Unit mediation/arbitration going third with the nursing component coming to the table last in November. The Employer and the Council of Unions mutually agreed to these dates. Each union has been providing updates to its members and it will all be wound up by the end of the year.
Your treasurer Hugh Gillis was in the office as we continued to fine-tune the 2018/19 budget for the Finance committee meeting later this month.
We know Labour Day is just around the corner and I hope we get good participation around the province for any events. Labour Day events have been led by Labour Council or other local community labour groups in the province. The Congress has told us that they will ensure there is a Labour Day event in Sydney. Questions on Labour day should be directed to the CLC staff or office.
In solidarity, DANNY CAVANAGH, PRESIDENT
The Nova Scotia Federation of Labour (NSFL)
We are the Nova Scotia provincial labour organization representing some 80,000 unionized workers in our province. The NSFL was founded in 1956, and meets every two years at Convention.
The Nova Scotia Federation of Labour (NSFL)
We are the Nova Scotia provincial trade union representing some 70,000 unionized workers in our province. The NSFL was founded in 1956, and meets every two years in Convention.
July 2018 Report from NSFL President Danny Cavanagh 
