Liberal government moves to repeal PC legislation forcing unions into new pension plan

Isabelle Leger · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 3:43 PM EDT | Last Updated: 38 minutes ago

The New Brunswick authorities is ending a two-year combat with CUPE and repealing authorities that would person forced 5 unions into a shared-risk pension plan.

The Pension Plan Sustainability and Transfer Act was passed successful precocious 2023, after Blaine Higgs, the Progressive Conservative premier, failed to get the unions to motion connected to the shared-risk idea.

The caller enactment established a process to transportation designated pension plans to shared-risk plans already registered nether the provincial Pension Benefits Act. 

It sparked statement and protests and led 3 unions to situation the authorities successful court, arguing it interfered with their close to escaped bargaining nether the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

WATCH | 'The spot to negociate is astatine the table, not successful the legislature': 

Higgs touted the authorities arsenic indispensable to hole a $265-million shortfall successful the pension fund.

René Legacy, who became concern curate aft Susan Holt and the Liberals were elected past fall, says instauration of a bill Friday to repeal the shared-risk authorities is simply a run committedness met.

"We privation to bring backmost respect with our workers, with our authorities employees," Legacy told reporters astatine the legislature.  

"We had a beauteous steadfast statement erstwhile this was brought in, and we've ever said the spot to negociate is astatine the table, not successful the legislature." 

Legacy said the modulation to transportation pensions hadn't started yet, truthful it's present a substance of going backmost to the negotiating  table. 

"To the champion of my knowledge, I'm not successful the depths of those Treasury actions, but I've been told that thing has been moved over," helium said. "It was inactive being litigated arsenic acold arsenic I know." 

Locals 2745 and 1253 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions filed a ineligible situation to the Higgs authorities past February.  

Legacy said adjacent with the repeal, the authorities can't spell backmost to the unions' earlier pension plans, which had problems. The extremity is to find a plan that's sustainable for workers, authorities and taxpayers.

Union presidents contiguous astatine the legislature Friday praised the determination to repeal the arguable enactment and said it was a  motion the caller authorities is consenting to collaborate with its workers. 

"This authorities is consenting to enactment with labour and place that (the Hilggs legislation) actually stripped and violated our rights arsenic a union, and we're pleased to spot this travel guardant today," said Sharon Teare, president of the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions. 

Sandy Harding, CUPE's determination manager for the Maritimes, said the repeal goes deeper than pensions for 3 national groups. 

"This is simply a large time for america successful this state and this is simply a large time crossed Canada that a authorities volition respect the rights of escaped corporate bargaining," she said.   

Harding said ineligible enactment taken against the New Brunswick authorities volition beryllium withdrawn erstwhile the repeal process is complete. 

Iris Lloyd, president of CUPE Local 1253 representing the New Brunswick Council of School District Unions, said she is acceptable to negociate present that immoderate spot successful the provincial authorities has been restored. 

"The 3 groups present consciousness precise comfy going backmost to the negotiating table."