Tentative Agreement Reached Between ANBL And NB Liquor Workers
MONCTON–The New Brunswick Liquor Corporation has confirmed a tentative agreement with CUPE Local 963 and the nearly 600 employees the union represents.
The agreement was reached on Saturday, Nov. 13; however, neither party had publicly declared it until Sunday.
Similar to tentative agreements reached with several other CUPE locals, it seems details will not be made public until ratification.
Had an agreement not been reached, the 600 employees would have been in a legal strike position as of 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16. That would have affected the Crown corporation’s 41 retail outlets and warehouses.
In a virtual media scrum Sunday morning, Premier Blaine Higgs hinted that news of a deal between ANBL and Local 963 could be on the way.
“I know they’ve been negotiating, so they will make their own announcement when the time comes, I’m hopeful we won’t see a labour disruption there, but we should learn something in the coming days,” said Higgs during the media scrum.
CUPE New Brunswick also indicated on Saturday evening that a deal was being finalized.
With files from Tim Herd, Brad Perry and Robert Lothian.