We know it is difficult to sort out fact from fiction. The Canadian Union of Public Employees and CUPE Local 1252 stand by the information below that corrects some of the misconceptions that have come to our attention.
1. Your pension plan is tied to your status as a CUPE member
CUPE members covered by the L1252 agreement have a shared-risk pension plan, under the name Shared Risk Plan for CUPE Employees of New Brunswick Hospitals. Only CUPE Local 1252 members have the right to access and negotiate the terms of this pension plan. This is in accordance with Article 35 of the Collective Agreement, and the pension plan text, sections 2.29 (i)-(iii).
If a worker is no longer a member of CUPE, their contributions will either be frozen until the age of retirement, or they may take a terminated value of their contributions and transfer it to another plan or a prescribed retirement savings plan if under the age of 55 (Section 7 of the plan text). If you take a termination value, you greatly reduce your contribution benefits.
After analyzing the available healthcare collective agreements negotiated by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters in Ontario, no healthcare worker has a similar pension plan. Almost all their plans are equal employee / employer contributions of 4% for a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP).
2. CUPE never signs “me too” clauses
Unions who sign “me too” clauses make it more difficult for Unions like CUPE to negotiate substantial wage increases and wage adjustments with the government because the government is not only weighing the cost of such increases for the CUPE members at the bargaining table, but also the workers from other unions who aren’t even at the bargaining table!
Historically, other public sector unions have negotiated “me too” clauses with the government prior to CUPE 1252 going to the bargaining table. CUPE has never and will never sign a “me too” agreement as it goes against our policies and values as a union.
In fact, CUPE has talked with the other unions prior to this round of bargaining. They have agreed to hold off and allow CUPE to bargain first and we are hopeful it will make a difference at the table.
There is also a myth that since L1252 represents many different classifications of workers, some classifications cannot “get ahead”. The truth is that CUPE negotiates General Economic Increases for all workers, and then has the ability to adjust the rate of pay for certain classifications based on job evaluation, labour market analysis, classification-specific issues such as recruitment and retention and comparisons with other like groups.
3. CUPE is fighting for wage increases above the cost of living
CUPE Local 1252 are active members of CUPE New Brunswick’s Bargaining Forward: Breaking the Mandate campaign. This campaign’s goal is to secure real wage increases for all public sector workers in New Brunswick.
Real wage increases are general economic wage increases that are above the cost of inflation.
More information on this campaign is in your kits.
4. CUPE 1252 provides spaces specifically for LPNs
Have you heard about the LPN Committee? This committee is part of CUPE 1252’s structure! This is your space to make your voice heard at the provincial level! If you want to get involved, you can contact the provincial executive. This committee meets with the Association of New Brunswick Licensed Practical Nurses twice per year.
Also, there is a myth that CUPE does not respond to LPNs’ workplace concerns because they do not have “Professional Practice Meetings” (like the Nurses). The truth is that “Professional Practice Meetings” is another name for Labour/Management Committee Meetings. These meetings take place between the Local CUPE executive members and the employer. Each hospital has these meetings where workplace concerns are raised and addressed, and there also exists a provincial Labour/Management Committee that meets three times a year.
5. CUPE bargains with LPNs in mind
There are currently two LPNs on the CUPE Local 1252 bargaining committee – they have your interests at heart! CUPE 1252’s Bargaining Committee is structured to ensure regional representation therefore there are no limits on classifications. In fact, we’ve had 6 LPNs at the table in recent memory.
In addition, CUPE has a track record of advocating for LPNs to achieve monetary increases that bring them more in line with RNs. Last year, CUPE Local 1252 started closing the gap by establishing evening, night and weekend shift premiums that are a full dollar per hour more than what the Carpenters have negotiated for their healthcare workers in their latest agreements.
| Union | Shift premium |
| HOPE2220 (Carpenters) – Granite Ridge | $0.25/hr nights; $0.30/hr wknds |
| HOPE2220 (Carpenters) – Westmount Gardens | $0.28/hr afternoon & nights; $0.25/hr wknds |
| HOPE2220 (Carpenters) – Chartwell Westbury | $0.30/hr nights; $0.30/hr wknds |
| HOPE2220 (Carpenters) – Silverthorne Care | $0.30/hr nights; $0.20/hr wknds |
| HOPE2220 (Carpenters) – Westmount/Wynfield/Woodhaven/Waterford | $0.28/hr nights, $0.20/hr wknds |
| CUPE Local 1252 | 7.5h Shift: $1.31/hr afternoon, $1.69/hr nights, $1.31/hr wknd
*11.25h Shift: $2.00/hr nights, $1.31/hr wknds |
CUPE in Ontario strongly advocates for RPNs’ wages to be adjusted closer to RNs wages given their increasing responsibilities in the hospital setting.
6. CUPE has local autonomy and is a bottom-up, democratic union
Every local union of CUPE has the ability to conduct its own business as established by the CUPE Constitution. This means that, even though the legislation in New Brunswick does not require the membership to vote on a collective agreement, CUPE does this every time because it is part of our democratic values. An executive will never sign off on an agreement without a membership ratification vote.
CUPE local unions are democratic. Any member of a local can decide to run for any position of the Local or provincial executive. Every executive officer is directly elected by the majority of members present at general meetings. Every local union bylaws has a process to hold elected officers of the union to account should they behave against the National constitution (this is called the “trial procedure”).
If you don’t like the way things are in your union, you have the power to change it!
7. Together, CUPE 1252 members can make an impact by going on strike
The right to strike is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms under s. 2(d) freedom of association, as determined by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2015.
At the bargaining table, employers are perceived as having the upper hand. As public sector workers, our one power move to pressure the government to respond to our needs is the ability to withdraw the important services that New Brunswickers depend on.
In some provinces, LPNs and other health care workers such as your brothers and sisters in 1252 no longer have the right to strike. Instead of designation ratios and “essential services” legislation, the parties are mandated to proceed to Interest Arbitration where a third-party arbitrator ultimately decides on the issues the parties couldn’t resolve in bargaining. Both the workers and the employer must accept this decision – there is no other recourse to challenge the decision if the workers are unhappy with it. In New Brunswick, interest arbitration (or “binding arbitration”) is only mandatory for police officers and firefighters – there are no provisions in the Industrial Relations Act or the Public Service Labour Relations Act covering automatic and mandatory interest arbitration for designated workers in the healthcare sector.
LPNs are a designated group. This means that if CUPE Local 1252 members vote for a strike, the majority of LPNs cannot strike – they must depend on all other non-designated classifications in the local to walk out on their behalf. With all classifications included in CUPE 1252, the designation ratio goes down and we can more effectively withdraw our labour to have the desired impact – getting a good deal at the bargaining table!
8. CUPE: A powerful voice for healthcare across Canada
CUPE represents 158,000 health care workers in every province, and proudly represents tens of thousands of LPNs, RPNs and RNs in hospitals, rehabilitation centres, surgery units, teaching hospitals, long-term care facilities and home and community care centres. CUPE fights every day for proper public health care funding, an end to privatization and improved working conditions that benefit both those who are caring and the patients, residents and family.
CUPE Local 1252 is a respected and powerful voice at the provincial government level that has advocated for workers and won several victories. Most recently, they prevented lay-offs by stopping the outsourcing of food management services to Sodexo, a private, for-profit company.
They are also members of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour, New Brunswick’s house of labour.
CUPE New Brunswick takes on every worker-related piece of legislation and advocates for workers’ rights. Most recently, their work contributed to securing emergency leave days for domestic and sexual violence survivors, as well as new legislation to protect workers against violence and harassment in the workplace.
9. CUPE is the largest public sector union in New Brunswick– and has the resources to match
As a CUPE member in New Brunswick, you have access to 25 national staff representatives:
- 20 Servicing Representatives, that bargaining your collective agreements and assisting locals in defending your collective rights set out in your contract or any applicable legislation. They work closely with elected officers to assist them in doing the important work they take on in your workplaces;
- A Communications Representative that helps locals with internal and external communications;
- An Education Representative that delivers hundreds of union education courses for members on health and safety, leadership, stewarding, communications, and more;
- A Legal Representative, the staff lawyer for the region who takes our issues to the courts and advises our Staff Reps dealing with difficult grievances and legislative matters such as Employment standards, human rights code, etc.;
- A Human Rights Representative that helps locals promote and enforce the human rights of their members, ensuring respect for all regardless of language, race, country of origin, sexuality, gender and ability;
- An Organizer that provides support to non-unionized members who want to join CUPE;
- A Health and Safety Representative that assists local health and safety committees to enforce and monitor health and safety concerns in their workplaces;
- A Researcher, that provides data analysis and information to locals for collective bargaining, campaigns development and legislative changes;
To access your collective agreement, visit http://www.cupe1252scfp.ca/images/PDFs/L1252_CA_Exp_2019_06_30_ENG.pdf
To access your pension plan text, visit https://vestcor.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/CUPE-SRP-Plan-Text-final-Dec-12-2018.pdf
If you have any questions, concerns or comments, please contact lpn@cupe.ca.