Canadian Labour Reporter

provision and filed a grievance. "Cuts to public sector jobs re- leased in this budget are a shame- ful attack on our valuable services and the front-line staff who deliv- er them," said NSGEU president Joan Jessome. "This budget is brutal — they are trying to balance their books on the backs of the public service and are decimating our commu- nities across the province." When the Liberal government released details of its budget ear- lier this year, it faced significant backlash from public service unions denouncing the cuts. About 78 employees — the ma- jority of whom work in the ERDT — were laid off overall, according to the union. Twenty of those workers have the option of relocating with their jobs. Of the laid-off ERDT employ- ees, 11 remain outstanding and have not been placed elsewhere by the government. They will be bounced at the end of a 40-day period, at which point they will be put on a seniority recall list, which expires after two years. Collective agreement In it, the collective agreement de- marcates the layoff policy in the placement/displacement proce- dure provision. Subject to consideration of ability, experience, qualifications or where the employer establishes that special skill or qualification are required, an employee in re- ceipt of layoff and who has not been placed will have the right to be placed in another vacancy. That new position would be dependent on the fact the em- ployee would have the same clas- sification, when there is a vacancy available. If circumstances did not permit such placement, any classification would do. The master civil agreement in Nova Scotia also dictates if a suitable position is not readily available, the employee will have the right to displace another less- senior employee in the same clas- sification. Full-time employees are not required to accept a vacant posi- tions that has a lower maximum salary than that of the the employ- ee's classification, nor are they re- quired to accept a job with lower benefit entitlements (for instance, a part-time or casual position). Past precedent The no-layoff clause was en- shrined in the public service's col- lective agreement by the previous NDP government and was traded off during negotiations to offset wage concessions. Employment security provi- sions are a tactics used by public sector unions when an employer is pushing hard concessions — which is often the cases when gov- ernments are in the red. In NDP-run Manitoba, for instance, the Manitoba Govern- ment and General Employees' Union has in the past inked con- tracts with no-layoff clauses in exchange for other traditionally bloated demands (such as wages and benefits). With the grievance in Nova Scotia still outstanding, public service commission minister Labi Kousoulis declined an opportu- nity to comment on the matter directly. He did, however, say the employer does not agree that em- ployees continue to be paid after the expiry of the 40-day notice period. Kousoulis said his depart- ment will continue to work with employees who have opted to ex- ercise their placement/displace- ment rights under their collective agreement. The next round of bargaining with public sector unions is ex- pected later this year. 7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 CANADIAN LABOUR REPORTER news < from pg. 1 Agreement demarcates layoff policy The no-layoff clause was enshrined in the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union's collective agreement by the previous NDP government. The provision requires the government to find work for displaced employees and to pay a portion of their salary in the interim. Photo: Unifor

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