CUPE raising alarm: “Our home is under attack from within.”

St. John’s, NL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) predicts 2026 to be an incredibly difficult year to defend public services in Newfoundland & Labrador, without public pressure on the provincial government. CUPE members in every public sector are reporting attacks to our services through funding cuts, reduction of services, public-private partnerships (P3s), and the increased use of artificial intelligence.

“Our government is systematically deconstructing the public service,” said Sherry Hillier, CUPE Newfoundland & Labrador President. “From Memorial University preparing for ‘a smaller future,’ to costly private contractors in public housing amid the housing crisis, to travel nurses being the norm in our province—our home is under attack from within.”

In almost every sector of public services, CUPE is aware of job vacancies going unfilled for months, resulting in workers being overloaded and our communities being underserved.

The new ‘integrated’ ambulance system was supposed to improve response times, but the private company hired to manage the newly combined public and private service has not been able to address staffing shortages and publicly stated they don’t have a strategy to do so. For $560M in public dollars the province now has fewer ambulances out at any given time, rural communities reporting an increase in wait times and the many unfilled vacancies remain.

“Our government is trying to convince us that public services have no value. They are actively degrading those services, and they are misleading the public about the potential for public-private partnerships to improve the daily life of struggling communities across Newfoundland & Labrador.”

Amid recent reports of substandard care, poor conditions, abuse and evictions in the home care sector, we also know that private companies were given over $80M to subsidize private facilities last year (an increase from $50M the previous year) by the province.

In childcare, over $400M has been paid to fewer than a dozen private companies over six years. Last year, private companies were paid approximately $400,000 per child for housing and care of children with complex needs.

Deloitte was paid almost $2M for a 10-year plan to address staffing gaps in healthcare and their report had completely fabricated sources. The Education Accord NL, another ten-year plan paid for with public dollars, was also found to have AI-generated content and fake sources.

“I urge our communities to heed the warnings of public workers,” continued Hillier. “We’re on the ground; we see the destruction of public services in our workplaces every day. When we hear about a new private contract instead of a new hire, when we are told to send members of our community to a government website instead of helping them access services, we know these are signs pointing to a difficult future for Newfoundland & Labrador.”

CUPE Newfoundland & Labrador represents 6,000 workers in every area of our public services, including hospitals, public schools, city services, public housing, nursing homes, childcare centres, public libraries, and more.

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