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"In some cases, they’re simply moving jobs that are already done in rural locations to another rural location. It doesn’t make much sense.” - Joan Jessome, NSGEU President.
Halifax (03 May 2012) - The Nova Scotia Government & General Employees Union (NSGEU/NUPGE) is calling into question the government’s decision to relocate nearly 100 civil service jobs, saying the job relocations will needlessly disrupt lives and hurt services.
“We are wholeheartedly in favour of the government creating new jobs in rural Nova Scotia,” says NSGEU President Joan Jessome. “But what government announced today isn’t about creating new jobs, it’s about moving numbers around. In some cases, they’re simply moving jobs that are already done in rural locations to another rural location. It doesn’t make much sense.”
Like the rest of Nova Scotia, NSGEU/NUPGE and the civil service employees it represents only heard about the government’s relocation plans during the government's April Throne Speech. The government only officially notified the union about its intentions over the past couple of weeks and the full extent of those plans only came to light today.
“Our members are really upset about this,” says Jessome. “They’ve established their homes and their families, their lifestyles, their partners who are working who don’t get transferred so it’s not all rosy as some people are suggesting. Business is saying it’s good. The mayors are saying it’s good. Government is saying it’s good. But it’s having a real impact on 75 people who I represent.”
Relocating the jobs will also have an impact on the people who depend on the services provided by these civil service employees. Many of them are program administration officers, and have built up years of experience and expertise in their field. If they don’t choose to move with the job – which the union believed will likely be the case with most of these employees – the government will be losing an important resource.
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The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE