Is the CBA Excitement Really Just a Red Herring?

Audrey Matura-Shepherd

Matura-Shepherd says that all the fuss about a collective bargaining agreement is merely a diversion from the real issue at hand, a severance package that should be given to all employees who will be terminated from FCIB as a result of the buyout.

Audrey Matura-Shepherd, President, Christian Workers Union

“Has the prime minister addressed the issue in the House about the fact that employees will be left without a job and FCIB is refusing to discuss an exit package?  Why is it that the prime minister has taken the position of management and harp on a CBA which is a nullity?  That is the red herring. The reason the employees don’t want to deal with a CBA is because they know the subsisting one exists.  What they want to deal with is what is the exit package they will get.  What will they get when this business closes done?  What is something else that the government can do?  The government now has gone through the National Assembly and rushed through this law, and it’s rushed because in one day, first, second, third reading and then it goes to the Senate tomorrow.  The prime minister has not stated the commencement date.  I think he needs to meet with the employees so that there be a discussion as to what that commencement date can possibly and plausibly be.  Two, the actual, once the legislation goes through the system, through parliament, it then needs to be sent over to the governor general who will sign it and once the governor general assents to it then it’s gazetted.  So, before the governor general signs it there’s still an opportunity for the government to ensure that the demands of the employees are met.”