CUPE members coming out in droves for the Saint John meeting of the provincial Strategic Program Review and holding a silent protest. A minimum of 300 turning out, lining the periphery of the NBCC gymnasium, many of them holding signs.
Stephen Drost is the provincial president of CUPE Local 1418 and he spoke with us at the meeting. Drost says, “CUPE was very actively involved in the public consultation process last year and we heard from the public and from labour and these weren’t the choices that were presented to this government. So when we see these documents we actually see this as nothing more than political theatre.”
CUPE National representative Mike Davidson tells us you can’t shrink your way to greatness in New Brunswick and that’s something the province has to have an understanding of, “you look at what Sussex is going through right now, there’s not a whole lot of decent paying jobs left in our communities. We can’t afford to privatize jobs at half the rate of pay and no benefits.”
At the meeting provincial finance minister Roger Melanson speaking, saying that “I hope tonight we have a constructive dialogue.” He also told the people at the meeting that premier Brian Gallant has taken a 15-percent pay cut and he took a 10-percent pay cut.
Jennifer McKenzie, who ran for the NDP in Fundy Royal and is one of the people who took part in the actual discussions at the meeting, spoke with us with her group and says they are very concerned about the New Brunswick economy, “the types of things they’re considering, in terms of changes, austerity leads to a downward spiral where the more you cut the more you have to cut and New Brunswick needs to be built back up.”
About 65 people participating in the actual meeting itself, which is eighth in a series of 10 across the province.
