Tom Osborne slams CUPE, blames national office for 'stalling' contract talks

Finance Minister Tom Osborne is slamming the Canadian Union of Public Employees over delays in signing a new collective agreement on behalf of its roughly 4,000 members.

And he's pointing the finger squarely at officials in the union's national office.

"I believe in face-to-face negotiations and we've got a group of people in Toronto dictating now how local issues are dealt with," a fiery Osborne said during a hastily called scrum with reporters Friday.

"People I've never seen the whites of their eyes, I didn't sit across the table from them, dealing with an issue that wasn't even a part of negotiations and stalling a deal now for well over a month. And they're asking for further extensions?"

• Contract talks between government, CUPE at an 'impasse' says union rep

But CUPE is firing back just as hard, calling Osborne's comments a "slap in the face" and "outside the boundaries."

"We don't want politicians trying to speak directly to our members," said Brian Farewell, CUPE'snational representative in Newfoundland and Labrador.

CUPE fears future lawsuits

The friction relates to proposed contractlanguage involving post-retirement benefits like group health and life insurance.

Effective Dec. 31, 2019, public servants must retire from "active" employment in order to qualify for these benefits, Farewell said.

Theword "active" is a problem for the union, and there's a concern that workers who become eligible to retire while they're on unpaid sick leave, long-term disability andworkers' compensation will be denied health and life insurance benefits.

The union has asked for a delay in talks while it receives a legal opinion, but said it's "worst fears" were confirmed after further talks with government.

Farewell said the union is trying to ensure it'sprotected against future litigation.

"Once it goes in our collective agreement, we're faced with a situation that if an employee marches off to human rights and there is a complaint received and accepted, it's not just the government that are going to be named, CUPE is named," he said.

The province has agreed to delay the effective date for this change until March 31, 2020, but Farewell said that's not good enough.

He said the old collective agreement expired two years ago, and if a similar scenario unfolds two years from now, some disabled workers might fallthrough the cracks.

We are going ahead to get a legal opinion and see where it falls out. If there's no violation of human rights, then the issue is dead and we settle this agreement.- Brian Farewell, CUPE

"We need to make sure. If it's one,it's one too many if they are refused benefits because of a disability," Farewell said.

"We are going ahead to get a legal opinion and see where it falls out. If there's no violation of human rights, then the issue is dead and we settle this agreement."

Osborne growing increasingly frustrated

Osborne, meanwhile, said he felt the two sides were close to a deal a month ago, but talks went sideways after CUPEraised the issue about post-retirement benefits. .

Osborne said this issue was inserted at the last minute and was not included in the collective agreement process.

He said the changes were previously agreed to by CUPEprior to the Liberals taking office in 2015.

But in an effort to keep things on track, Osborne said he agreed to discuss the issue, and even extended the effective date for the change by three months.

Now, he's growing increasingly frustrated with the constant delays.

I'm generally not someone to get upset, butI'm telling you I am upset with the wayCUPEare dealing with this.- Tom Osborne

"I'm generally not someone to get upset, butI'm telling you I am upset with the way CUPE are dealing with this," he said.

"I think CUPE owes an explanation to their members as to why this deal is not getting signed and theirmembers are not getting their severance payouts."

Contract 'essentially the same' as NAPE deal

Osborne said the proposed contract is "essentially the same framework" as the deal signed with the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees in January.

That deal gave a commitment against any large-scale layoffs and a wage freeze for the duration of the contract.

But there are also changesto post-employment benefits, with new employees having to work 15 years before qualifying for group health benefits and life insurance.

Current employees qualify after 10 years of pensionable service.

New employees will also pay considerably higher health insurance premiums when they retire, which will result in significant savings for government.

Osborne said he was not obligated to even entertain the concerns raised by CUPE, but did so because he wants to be "fair and respectful."

"I could easily have said this is not part of this bargaining. You've signed on to this several years ago," Osborne said.

He said government has no plans to use the legislature to force a contract on CUPE.