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Newfoundland premier accused of bungling strike
"That's why
we're in the mess we're in today."
 St.
John's - Premier Danny Williams was attacked in the Newfoundland
legislature Tuesday for bungling the biggest strike in the history of
the province.
Nearly 20,000 public sector workers are affected by a walkout that
began on April 1 because of government demands for a two-year wage
freeze and sweeping contract concessions.
Most of the workers are represented by the Newfoundland and Labrador
Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE/NUPGE). The rest are
represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Roger Grimes, a former premier who is now opposition leader, and Jack
Harris, the provincial NDP leader, said the Tory premier has
mishandled the situation badly and lost the trust of workers and
voters alike.
"That's why people don't trust them, that's why they don't believe
them, and that's why we're in the mess we're in today in this
bargaining," said Grimes, a former union leader.
Harris demanded to know, "Why, with 20,000 people on strike and public
services suffering, doesn't government abandon its amateurish and
perhaps Mickey Mouse approach?"
But Williams, who entered politics last year after making a fortune in
the cable television industry, refused to budge, declaring that there
will be no more talks until the unions present a new offer in writing.
Neither NAPE nor CUPE has responded formally to a government offer
made last Friday, he added.
"It's their move. They have to do something," he said, saying he wants
a response in writing, not by way of public statements from union
leaders. The last offer, which was worse than the government position
when the strike began, was dismissed by the two unions last Friday.
Again on Tuesday, Williams was heckled by workers who yelled and mooed
from public galleries during daily house proceedings. It was yet
another response from workers to Williams' suggestion early in the
strike that he might keep them on the picket lines "til the cows come
home."
Leo Puddister, president of NAPE, says salaries, pensions, sick leave
and school board hours continue to be major issues.
Web posted by NUPGE:
14 April 2004
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