With bulging surplus in view, NAPE asks for new contract talks

The largest union in Newfoundland and Labrador has kick-started the process for a new contract, following promises made on last fall's campaign trail.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees represents about 15,000 public servants, including hospital workers, student assistants and government clerks.

"This is an extremely important round of negotiations," NAPE president Carol Furlong said while announcing that the union has formally given notice it wants to start the collective bargaining process for a new contract.

NAPE's current agreement with the provincial government expires March 31.

The climate for labour relations has changed considerably since the contract start. NAPE members and the Canadian Union of Public Employees waged a bitter but ultimately futile one-month strike against the government in 2004.

The strike ended when Premier Danny Williams and the governing Progressive Conservatives legislated a new, concessionary contract that included a two-year wage freeze and small increases for three subsequent years.

At the time, the government was posting large deficits, and said it needed to bring its spending under control.

But during the election campaign, Williams promised that civil servants would receive a "reward" of higher wages, although he refused to speculate on what the government had in mind. He said the government would withhold comment outside the bargaining room.

The pressure to deliver will be intense. In December, the government announced it is projected a record-busting surplus for the current fiscal year of $881 million, largely due to high oil prices. The government intends to put most of the surplus toward debt retirement.

Furlong said wages will be the key issue, and that the union is looking for raises that "will make up for past losses."