Canadian Union of Public Employees

Thurs, Nov 7th, 2024

Recently, we have seen that the PEI Government approved budget allocations for giant raises on 6-figure exec salaries without due process; at the same time, this government is forcing CUPE PEI healthcare members to go to binding arbitration instead of offering them fair wages at the bargaining table.

The Premier, Ministers, and Treasury Board don’t address unauthorized spending when it comes to CEOs and management, but they go out of their way to nickel-and-dime the frontline workers who actually keep the healthcare system going. If our members in the public health system (the majority of whom make $20.98/hr) are ever erroneously paid wages above their classification, that money has been immediately and meticulously reclaimed – yet these unauthorized salary increases (for those making over $100,000/year) not only slip past the supposed safe-guards in place, but also receive increased budget lines passed by this super-majority Conservative government. This incident isn’t an isolated event to be blamed on a few former Health PEI employees – it’s the latest is a long line of unilateral, uncollaborative decisions that undermine collective bargaining rights, obscure transparency, and avoid accountability. How much money has this government spent on travel nurses? How much money for private LTC beds, private clinics, and other private services, while short-changing the public system? How much money on one-time bonuses and ineffective incentives? How much more money on other unauthorized expenditures that were ‘missed,’ ‘overlooked,’ or ‘unfortunate oversights?’

An effective, transparent, and accountable government could have put all that money into real wage improvements, more staff positions, and better supports for all workers in the public system, making healthcare an attractive and sustainable career for Islanders again. Union leaders across the system have offered these solutions at every turn – from local labour management meetings and provincial ‘all-union partners’ meetings to holding public town halls and showing up at the legislature.

But no… rather than invest money into maintaining and strengthening the public system, this Conservative government flings money at executives, fobs their responsibility off on profiteering private enterprises, and short-changes and disrespects workers at every opportunity. This government has consistently showed that it either doesn’t have the will or the competence to effectively manage the essential public services that Islanders depend on.

In light of the startlingly disparate treatment of our frontline healthcare workers, CUPE PEI calls upon the King Government to immediately implement an appropriate wage mandate for workers and instruct their bargaining representatives to return to the table with the offer that our CUPE members so rightly deserve.

With increasing frustration and disappointment,

Ashley Clark
President, CUPE PEI