MUN, Nalcor not part of wage freeze
Minister hopes they will follow government’s lead
While roughly 11,000 nonunionized public-sector workers have their wages frozen and severance payments eliminated, there’s no guarantee Nalcor Energy and Memorial University will follow suit.
Finance Minister Tom Osborne introduced two bills on Tuesday that will see a wage freeze from June 1 until March 31, 2020 for non-unionized workers. Severance payments for new hires, as well as a reduction in other benefits, are also part of government’s plan.
However, since MUN and Nalcor both bargain separately from government for their unionized and non-unionized workers, it’ll be up to those institutions to get their wage freezes and get rid of severance payments at their own bargaining tables.
“We’ve been communicating with them and working with them. We’ve asked them to follow the same framework. It’s certainly our hope that they do,” said Osborne.
If those collective bargaining units don’t follow suit with government, there’s not a whole lot government can do to mandate the changes.
Some collective bargaining is already underway at MUN and Nalcor, meaning Tuesday’s announcement shows part of what those institutions will be asking of members on the other side of the table.
The changes are more or less the same as what NAPE agreed to when it signed its collective agreement earlier this year, according to Osborne. The hope is that CUPE and other unions still locked in collective bargaining with government will follow suit once their agreements are reached.
The changes will affect roughly 11,000 members of the public service. While wage increases won’t be allowed, workers can still progress on salary steps, accrue overtime, get bonuses, and get shift premiums — but those incentives will also be frozen.
Once passed, those workers will get their already accrued severances paid out — which should cost around $25 million, according to officials with the Department of Finance. The government estimates the total elimination of severance for unionized and non-unionized workers will see a one-time payout of roughly $600 million, but Osborne says after that annual savings will be $25 million a year.
There’s also changes to other post-employment benefits for
non-unionized government workers.
Once June 1 hits, new hires with the provincial government will only qualify for group insurances — health, dental, life, etc. — if they are eligible for a pension, have a minimum 15 years of pensionable service, and not return to work after retiring from the provincial government.
Premiums for the other benefits are currently cost-shared 50-50 between government and the employee. Starting on June 1, it’ll change to a sliding scale. Once an employee has 15 years of service, they’ll pay 85 per cent of the premium. The scale changes every five years, until the worker is back to the 50-50 split once they have 30 years of service with government.