[HALIFAX, NS] — A large number of bureaucrats asked by the provincial NDP to move out of Halifax have declined the offer.
According to the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, 36 out of 71 government employees asked to relocate from Halifax to New Waterford, Shelburne or Truro will not follow their jobs.
According to the union, only 39 of the 71 employees have made their intentions clear.
“To turn 71 peoples’ lives up in turmoil and to jeopardize the level of service because they want to have jobs in rural Nova Scotia, I don’t think that was a good trade-off,” union president Joan Jessome said.
Darrell Dexter’s NDP government announced earlier this year that employees from the departments of justice, agriculture, and fisheries and aquaculture would have their jobs moved from Halifax to rural areas.
According to government documents, the move was expected to cost between $1.5 million and $2.4 million. The government repeatedly stressed the move was not to save money, but to more effectively deliver services.
Of 23 justice department employees, 22 refused to move from Halifax to New Waterford, according to the union.
Justice Minister Ross Landry said he understands the request may be “traumatic” for some.
“We know that for some people to move it’s a very traumatic situation,” Landry told reporters on Tuesday. “It’s very demanding (on) family structures.”
The deadline for decisions has been extended to July 4. Jessome said she’s “optimistic” the affected employees will be able to find other jobs.
Whenever an employer picks up and moves from any location, they DO NOT force their employees to move. They do offer jobs in the new location, and if workers choose not to move, they generally work with them to try to find other work withing their organization. So why should government be any different? In the case of these department moves, the jobs are there if the employees want to move as well. But, if they don't want to move, these employees will be offered other jobs, where they exist, in other sectors. Just so happens in this case the employer is the province of NS. So, this employer will try to find other jobs for these workers who choose not to move. They are NOT guaranteed another job in another department, but where openings exist, and the employee fits the requirements, they will be offered a position and will not have to go through a job competition for it. Most private sector employers who choose to move a part of their operation will do the same for their employees. So what are you talking about? And while I can't say I am opposed to moving jobs out of Halifax to rural NS, the fact is: many of the jobs moving, for instance to New Waterford in the case of the Maintenance Enforcement Program, they are jobs leaving one rural community--New Glasgow, Amherst--to another. Can you tell me just how this will "deliver better service to business and taxpayers"?