Planning employees locked out in Pictou County
NSGEU president Joan Jessome says it appeared the employer was planning a lockout all along.
Halifax (1 June 2010) – Employees of Pictou County Shared Service Authority (PSSA) were locked out of their jobs when they showed up for work Monday in Stellarton.
The workers, members of Local 60A of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees’ Union (NSGEU/NUPGE), were confronted at their workplaces in Stellarton with notices on the doors and padlocks on the gates. They are seeking a first union contract.
“The way bargaining unfolded this weekend makes me wonder if the employer’s intention was to lock us out on Monday all along,” says Joan Jessome, NSGEU president.
“At 4:30 pm on Friday, with a strike deadline looming, the employer would not continue to bargain. They wouldn’t return to the bargaining table until 6 p.m. on Sunday night and by 10 p.m. they presented the NSGEU bargaining committee with their final offer and said ‘take it or leave it.’”
