St. John`s (September 04, 2014) – The Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE/NUPGE) and four other public sector unions in Newfoundland and Labrador have agreed with the provincial government to sustain the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP). In January 2018, NAPE members voted 88 per cent in favour of a new collective agreement. The terms included a non-layoff clause for the duration of the agreement, no salary increase and a severance purchase that will cost taxpayers approximately $250 million. «There are also our members and the people of the province who need essential public services that calm them down.» Sixteen existing collective agreements between the provincial government and the Newfoundland and Labrador Public Employees Association (NAPE) are now being extended until March 31, 2022, following a preliminary agreement between the two parties. The government`s second union, CUPE, has yet to agree on its employees. NAPE will present these preliminary agreements to accession in the coming weeks and expects the ratification process to be completed in early 2020. NAPE says agreements on different bargaining units include higher wages and other post-employment benefits. The union recommends adoption. Larry Brown, National Secretary of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), who participated in the negotiations, said that the joint trust agreement will be extremely important for NAPE/NUPGE and its members. «If these agreements are ratified, they will save long-term while ensuring staff stability while continuing our work to return to surplus,» Finance Minister and Treasury Board Chairman Tom Osborne said in a press release. «This agreement will provide the province and the public sector with much-needed stability,» NAPE President Jerry Earle said in a union statement.

NAPE`s negotiating team developed the agreement for 16 different bargaining units, the largest of which was for general service employees. The interim agreement also covers units such as laboratory and radiology workers, prison officers, teachers and staff at the College of the North Atlantic. Full details of the agreement will be submitted for ratification by the more than 16,000 NAPE members, which is expected to take place in early January. «I think it`s a fair and balanced agreement between the two sides,» Osborne told reporters on Tuesday. A highlight of the agreement is the commitment to create a common plan trust, which means that the government and members will share responsibility for both the plan. The interim agreements apply to the following NAPE bargaining units: Air Services, CNA Faculty, CNA Support Staff, Correctional Officers, General Service, Group Homes, Health Professionals, Hospital Support Staff, Laboratory X-Ray, Marine Services, Maintenance and Operational Services (MOS), Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation (NLC), School Boards, Student Assistants, Ushers and WorkplaceNL. The agreement, which still needs to be ratified by more than 16,000 NAPE members across the province, extends all aspects of existing collective agreements by two years, with the exception of specific amendments. «Our members can work with the full knowledge that they have a collective agreement and are recognized for the invaluable service they do,» Earle said.

«The cost of living or the consumer price index is about 2% per year.