Terms in New Brunswick regain their Service Canada jobs

Lobbying a local MP paid off for many of the term staff that suffered an early termination of their contracts. Led by New Brunswick National Vice-President Debbie Gray and the president of Local 60268, Melissa Steele, CEIU met with MP Dominic Leblanc to make the case that current workloads demanded that term staff be retained.

The affected members worked at two Moncton locations: the Spike centre, where 28 were let go, and the Insurance Payment Operations Centre (IPOC) unit where 4 were terminated. Gray and Steele reviewed with Leblanc the high workloads and the effect of cuts on service to the public. As a result, the MP met with all affected employees along with Gray and local presidents Melissa Steele and Terry Bourque over lunch to discuss their issues. The MP agreed to contact the Minister to argue for the retention of staff and, in addition, advised that he had contacted the Executive Head for Service Management in the Atlantic region over the terminations.

The outcome? A commitment to offer positions to 25 of the terms, with good prospects for the remaining affected staff. “We are extremely pleased with the outcome so far,” said Gray, “and we are cautiously optimistic that all the term positions can be saved. Where jobs are concerned, I believe regional and local leaders have to put on the pressure to get the results our members need.”

National President Jeannette Meunier-McKay congratulated the New Brunswick region and its locals, saying “This is the kind of action we need to take, and Debbie, Terry and Melissa led the way for their members. Well done!”

Terry Bourque, Debbie Gray, Dominic Leblanc, Melissa Steele