New Brunswick’s controversial pension bill has passed third reading in the provincial legislature.
Union members jeered in the legislature Tuesday afternoon — shouting “Conservatives break contracts” and “negotiate don’t legislate” — as MLAs voted 28-19 in favour of Bill 17.
Progressive Conservative MLAs voted in favour of the legislation while all others in the legislature voted against it.
The bill, which is set to receive royal assent on Wednesday, will force five employee groups in the education and nursing home sectors into a shared-risk pension plan.
Premier Blaine Higgs blamed the opposition for not allowing the bill to go to committee for more debate.
“The opportunity through the process and going to committee would have allowed all these debates and discussions and questions to be answered by staff about what it really means to individuals,” Higgs told reporters following the final vote.
After hours of discussion on the legislation last week, the PCs moved a motion to cap the debate at 10 hours. That motion was passed on Tuesday, putting an end to any further debate.
Higgs maintained there has not been a real understanding by members of what the changes mean to them.
“I’m confident that when members get to understand it, they will feel differently,” he said.
The premier has said the legislation is meant to address the sustainability of the current plans, which have a combined deficit of around $285 million.
Those plans are funded at levels ranging from 65 per cent to 107.4 per cent. Under the shared-risk model, officials said current funding levels range from 118 to 120 per cent.
“It’s a balance between taxpayers and the right pension plan for employees and you try to make that work,” said Higgs.
RELATED: Job action possible as CUPE fights pension legislation
The changes will impact members of CUPE Local 1253, which represents 2,800 school district bus drivers, custodians and trade workers, along with CUPE Local 2745, representing 4,400 educational support staff.
Also impacted are nursing home workers who fall under three pension plans: general and services; nursing and paramedical; and management.
CUPE claims that the legislation amounts to the premier breaking signed collective agreements with its members.
Theresa McAllister, president of CUPE Local 2745, said last week that pension plan agreements were the main reason why a weeks-long strike in 2021 came to an end.
McAllister said under a memorandum of agreement (MOA), both sides would work together to come up with a pension plan that was feasible for everyone.
As part of the MOA, which McAllister said was pushed for by Higgs, the two sides agreed to mediation if an impasse was reached.
The mediation would involve an actuary chosen by the union, one selected by the province, and a third would be assigned, she said.
“We sent a notice in September to say we have reached the impasse, that we wanted to move to the three-member actuary panel, and this is what their response was,” said McAllister.
But Higgs said after more than two years of discussions with union officials, there were no “real discussions” and nothing had been accomplished.
It is unclear what CUPE’s next step will be, but the union has said it is not ruling out job action and legal avenues, adding the legislation tramples on the rights of workers.
