Labour Unions: Court Rejects Union’s Request for Temporary Freeze on Reclassification

With negotiations deadlocked and a strike looming, the province unilaterally reclassified nearly 2,000 Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) forming 22% of CUPE, Local 1252, to make them part of the New Brunswick Nurses Union. CUPE asked the court to step in and maintain the status quo until the Labour Relations Board resolved the reclassification issue. The court refused, saying it didn’t have jurisdiction to issue the interim relief CUPE wanted. And now the province’s top court, the Court of Appeal has rejected CUPE’s appeal and upheld the lower court’s ruling [Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 1252 v. Her Majesty the Queen in right of the Province of New Brunswick, as represented by the Treasury Board, 2021 NBCA 60 (CanLII), December 23, 2021].