Tory Premier Danny Williams owes labour an apology

Man with no union affiliation charged with assaulting premier's son

St. John's - The labour movement of Newfoundland and Labrador is waiting for an apology from Premier Danny Williams after a man with no union affiliation was charged Monday with beating up the premier's son at a waterfront bar. The attack happened hours after the first budget of the premier's anti-union Tory government was tabled in the legislature on March 30, announcing that 4,000 jobs - one in eight across the entire provincial public sector - would be wiped out. David Nagle, 23, was charged Monday with assault causing bodily harm. Bob Buckingham, a lawyer for the accused, said Nagle has no union affiliation and is not associated with either of the two major public sector unions on strike in the province.

Negotiations resume   Talks have resumed in the Newfoundland public sector strike. The two sides meet again today after 4 1/2 hours of negotiations on Monday. Both sides pulled previous offers off the table at midnight Sunday night, including a proposal by the unions to accept a two-year wage freeze in return for reasonable increases in the remainder of a longer contract. Concessions demanded by the province are a major sticking point. No statements have been issued.The renewed talks have been described as exploratory.

Nearly 20,000 members of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE/NUPGE) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) began a general strike on April 1 to protest the cuts and contract concessions demanded by Williams.

'Til the cows come home'

Two days after the incident, in a nationally televised outburst, Williams smeared the entire provincial trade union movement by linking it to the attack without citing any evidence. He also threatened to let the episode cloud his judgment in the handling of the strike.

"Let me just serve notice right now on anybody out there who's in a union - don't go near my family or my home or the homes of our ministers or anybody else in our caucus," the premier said. "Because I can tell you right now, they will be out 'til the cows come home if they go near any members of our families."

Danny Williams Jr. is alleged to have suffered a broken nose, a broken eye bone and concussion. However, he was not admitted to hospital and no charges were filed for three days - until the day after his father blew his top on television.

Later, the premier claimed - unconvincingly - that he was not suggesting the labour movement was responsible. But he refused to apologize and his qualifying remarks received only a fraction of the coverage devoted to his outburst, which was broadcast hundreds of times across the country.

Calls for an apology, which have been escalating ever since, reached the floor of the legislature floor Monday.

Apologies demanded

"We need an apology," said Liberal leader and former premier Roger Grimes. "It does not involve a member of either one of the unions."

Jack Harris, the provincial NDP leader, echoed Grimes demand.

"Insinuating that union members in this province would seek to choose to use violence against family members of the government (is) totally destructive of the process of trying to get an agreement with our public sector workers," Harris said.

NAPE president Leo Puddister, who expressed regret at the attack, joined in urging the premier to do the right thing.

"It's time for the premier now to come out and apologize to NAPE and to CUPE, and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and that should be the last we hear of this issue," Puddister said.

Son's past queried

Yet Williams was as graceless as ever. He again refused to apologize, this time on grounds that the matter is now before the courts.

Outside the legislature, Grimes suggested the incident involving Williams' son was not an isolated incident, and that the premier was well aware of the situation.

"Ask him to answer honestly whether or not this is the first and only time that his 28-year-old son has been involved in an altercation on George Street or elsewhere, and you'll probably find him not wanting to talk about it anymore now that it's been proven his remarks were intemperate," Grimes said.

Williams, who was in Corner Brook, said Grimes' comments were "reprehensible and beneath contempt." The premier has said his son was attacked because his father is in politics.

Web posted by NUPGE: 6 April 2004

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