The province’s largest public sector union says negotiating contracts in some situations is incredibly complex, primarily because the one who pays most of the bills is not at the table.

NAPE represents workers in sectors such as home care, long-term care and Choices for Youth, but the provincial government chooses not to have a seat the bargaining table.

Union President Jerry Earle says their line of thinking is peculiar because most of the funding comes from government.

“If we bargain with Labatts, we go down to Labatts; if it’s Country Ribbon, we bargain with Country Ribbon, not a player who’s in the shadows,” says Earle.

Earle has been involved in negotiating contracts for decades and he says bargaining in the home care sector is the most complex he has seen.