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Crown prosecutors vote 99% in favour of strike action amid labour shortage, system ‘crisis’
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Crown prosecutors vote 99% in favour of strike action amid labour shortage, system ‘crisis’
28-05-2024
New Brunswick
Crown prosecutors vote 99% in favour of strike action amid labour shortage, system 'crisis'
Province argues strike can't legally happen yet, collective bargaining process continues
New Brunswick Crown prosecutors and family court Crown counsel have voted 99 per cent in favour of strike action.
They have been in contract talks with the provincial government for more than a year and warn the "crisis" facing the criminal justice system is growing, due to recruitment and retention problems.
Prosecutors are "crushed under heavy workloads" and it's putting the justice system at risk, Shara Munn, president of the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association, said in a statement Monday.
"Prosecutors are united and saying with one voice: 'The status quo is not working. The government must act,'" she said, noting all members participated in the vote last week.
Meanwhile the Department of Justice and Public Safety argues prosecutors are not yet at a point where a legal strike vote can be taken.
"The parties have not yet exhausted the collective bargaining process under the Public Service Labour Relations Act," spokesperson Alycia Bartlett said in an emailed statement. "Government remains in active bargaining."
A conciliation meeting is scheduled for June 14-15.
Prosecutors will continue to work hard toward a fair deal, said Munn, but the situation left them "with no choice but to take action."
30 new positions promised a year ago
Munn has previously warned about staffing shortages and charges being stayed because of the inability to adhere to timelines imposed by a Supreme Court of Canada ruling. Under the Jordan decision, people who are charged shouldn't have to wait more than 18 or 30 months for a trial, depending on the the kind of trial.
In last year's budget, the government added 30 new prosecutor positions, raising the provincial total to about 90. Justice and Public Safety Minister Kris Austin told the legislature it was a "historic" 50 per cent increase.
As of March 2024, about 20 positions remain vacant.
Munn is calling on the government to back up its commitment to public safety with a willingness to negotiate fairly and present solutions to recruitment and retention.
"We're committed to making sure New Brunswickers have the justice system they deserve. But if the government doesn't work with us to fix this crisis, more experienced prosecutors will leave and the crisis will get even worse," she said.
"Community public safety could be put at risk."
The government values the work of all employees, "will respect the bargaining process and confidentiality," the department spokesperson said.
No other details about what prosecutors are seeking in negotiations have been released.
In October 2021, Crown prosecutors were among the groups that agreed to wage increases totalling 8.5 per cent over five years, Premier Blaine Higgs had said.
They ratified a tentative agreement, with a vote of 42 in favour and 21 opposed, their union, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, said at the time.
As of April, the wait for a criminal judge-alone trial requiring one to three days is up to a year in some jurisdictions, such as Saint John and Woodstock, according to figures published quarterly by the Court of King's Bench. For longer judge-alone trials, the wait jumps as high as 18 months in Edmundston.
For judge-and-jury criminal trials, some people in Fredericton are waiting as long as 22 months, the website shows.
