Food workers to consider job offer Monday, after contract flip at Mount Allison
Mount Allison’s food workers have a big decision to make on Monday, when members of CUPE Local 1440 will consider an offer from the school’s new dining services contractor, Chartwells Canada.
Local 1440 president Jason Tower says his members “know we have to give up some stuff,” in the establishment of the new contract. “We get that completely, because it’s a new company,” said Tower from a CUPE convention in Fredericton on Thursday.
Mount Allison did not require bidders for its dining services contract to recognize the existing collective agreement with Local 1440 and its 45 members. That hasn’t always been the case.
Before 2006, a change in companies did not mean a mass firing and a fresh start in contract negotiations for unionized workers. Tower says that 2006 was the first time that a new company was not required to honour existing worker contracts. Since then, Mount Allison seems to have embraced the practice of ‘contract flipping’, where it seeks a new, low bidder without any requirement for that company to hire current staff, or honour their established contract.
In a news release the university says it followed, “procurement legislation and established norms within the University sector, which require periodic participation in open and competitive procurement processes.”
Tower says that on Monday he will meet with local members to show them the offer from Chartwells, and then hold a vote.… Continue
UPDATE: Dump truck incident on Lower Walker Road ‘could have been fatal,’ says WorkSafeNB
This story was updated on June 1, 2022 to include new information from WorkSafeNB.
A seatbelt may have saved the life of a dump truck driver whose vehicle flipped onto its side last week, according to WorkSafeNB.
The driver escaped with minor injuries, but the incident could have been fatal.
The emergency call came in around 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 24, Cpl. Brian Villers of the Sackville RCMP said in an email last week.
The vehicle flipped onto its side, trapping the 58-year-old driver in the cab of the truck. The incident took place at a worksite located at 132 Lower Walker Road.
The driver was extracted from the truck, and taken to hospital via ambulance with minor injuries, according to Villers.
Ambulance NB and Sackville Fire and Rescue also attended the scene. No other vehicles were involved in the incident, according to Sackville fire chief Craig Bowser.
A spokesperson for WorkSafeNB provided a statement about the agency’s investigation on June 1.
“An experienced worker was operating a dump truck when the wheel [sank] into freshly bulldozed material” and the vehicle flipped, Laragh Dooley said in an email.
“The worker suffered shoulder and collarbone injuries. Fortunately, the worker was wearing a seatbelt – otherwise this could have been much more serious, even fatal.”
… Continue