On 28 August, over one hundred public sectors held a demonstrate in front of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, just 10 days before the expiry of the 100-day deadline.
CUPE also stated that New Brunswick public sector workers were the lowest paid across all Canadian provinces.
[6] That week, after the end of formal negotiations, CUPE announced that it would be balloting workers for approval for a strike mandate.
[10] Ontario senator Tony Dean called the vote to strike "a microcosm of something that’s going to be happening across the country," pointing to the fact that many unions in Canada had temporarily delayed collective bargaining negotiations throughout 2020 and 2021 to help the country focus on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.
Dean also argued that the impact of the pandemic would see working conditions and health & safety take more prominent position in future collective bargaining agreements.