Mill River workers want job assurances from P.E.I. government

Workers at the Mill River golf course, fun park and campground want to know in writing how their jobs will be affected by the government's new agreement with a private company.

The P.E.I. Union of Public Sector Employees (UPSE) says it was caught off guard by Thursday's announcement that the provincially owned properties in Mill River will be operated this year by a private company owned by businessman Don McDougall.

• Blue Jays founder Don McDougall to take over Mill River golf course in P.E.I.

Union president Karen Jackson says Tourism Minister J. Heath MacDonald had ample time to consult with the union to ensure workers' rights under the collective agreement are protected.

She says the government only notified her by phone Thursday morning.

The tourism minister says all of the staff will remain employees of the province and havethe same pay and work-term length, butJackson wants more of an assurance.

"I would like to see that in paper," she said. "We have gotten a verbal agreement. We have been getting phone calls from our members, of course. This is a one-year agreement. What is going to happen after the one-year agreement? We don't know."

The Mill River golf course is scheduled to open May 13, while June 3 and July 1 are the scheduled start dates for the campground and fun park, respectively.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | P.E.I. company gets government money for septic systems product
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | Confederation Centre of the Arts gets $2 million from Ottawa