And while the unions say it's imperative for the PM to get involved, they clapped back hard at one minister who stuck his nose into a negotiation he had no part in.
Yesterday, the Minister of Health and wellness Michel Chebat said the unions had rejected a special pay cut exemption for the nurses. He suggested that if the unions had accepted, the nurses would have been spared the 10% cut. As you can imagine, that sliced through the joint unions. Today they reacted saying it's an untruth - and one he should retract. First, for context, are his remarks:
Hon. Michel Chebat - Minister of Health and Wellness
"Part of the initial oral discussion with the unions - now, I'm not a part of that negotiating team. Please, I want to make that clear. But, part of the discussions in the initial phase was to exclude the healthcare workers from the 10% cut. However, it is my understanding that this proposal was rejected by the unions."
Sharon Fraser - President, APSSM
"When it is that you are making statements that the unions are rejecting offers that were never ever on the table, how can you do that? What you're doing, you're trying to do a divide and conquer tactic right and it's a good thing that in fact the nurses know better because otherwise we would have been having problems there. I want to speak to the fact that at no point in time there was never ever an offer on the table, a proposal that in fact nurses and frontline workers were to be exempted, that never came to us. So that statement to have been made by the minister of health and wellness, only god knows where he got it from."
Luke Martinez - President, NTUCB "The minister of health and wellness should have never ever said something like that. His words is causing to destroy a wonderful thing such as the labour movement in this country. He doesn't have a clue obviously of the discussions that are occurring within the confines with the house of culture between the unions and the budget team from the government side. What he needs to do, is to come back to the press, to you all and make a public apology to the unions for his action."
