Nova Scotia's largest public sector union is accusing Stephen McNeil's government of breaking a no-layoff guarantee put in place for civil servants by the previous New Democratic government.

"It's legitimate. It's in the collective agreement. They violated it. We filed a grievance," says Joan Jessome, president of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union.

The fight was triggered when the Liberals shut down the Department of Economic Rural Development and Tourism in the April 9 budget and handed layoff notices to 41 unionized civil servants.

Early in its mandate, the New Democratic Party added a provision to the civil service collective agreement in exchange for the union accepting two years of one per cent wage increases. Provision 2, as it is known, says laid-off civil servants must be paid until they are found a job that pays no less 90 per cent of their current salary.

It is, effectively, a no-layoff clause.

The NSGEU says 11 of 41 unionized workers laid off at the Department of Economic Rural Development and Tourism have not been placed, and will be bounced at the end of a 40-day layoff period.

"The government is now saying that after the 40 days — which I think expires around June 8 — that their pay will be cut off and they'll be on layoff recall without any income coming in," said Jessome.

"That's not what the collective agreement says, that's not their protection.

'Not going to have people staying at home and paying them a salary'

Labi Kousoulis, the Minister of the Public Service Commission, said the union grievance is premature since there is still a chance jobs will be found before the layoff period expires.

"From our perspective, after the 40 days, they would be laid off. We are trying to place everyone who was affected by layoffs within the public service," Kousoulis said.

"We don't feel we would have to pay them indefinitely. We're just not going to have people staying at home and paying them a salary from the province of Nova Scotia. And at that point, that is when their grievance should have been filed."

Jessome makes no apologies.

"It's not their choice today whether they go along with it or not. It's in the collective agreement. It's been fairly negotiated. It's there and protected — at a minimum — until the next contact is signed," she said.

Bargaining for the next collective agreement is expected later this year.

The no-layoff clause is not the only contentious issue — the Liberals say taxpayers cannot afford wage increases put in place by the New Democratic Party.