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Green Party Leader and MLA David Coon says he believes the province wants to deem nursing home workers an essential service because that may limit their ability to strike — a "strong bargaining chip" but one of last resort.

But even if the workers are deemed an essential service, he said, they should be able to have an arbitration process similar to police and firefighters. Or, if they do want to strike, there could be a middle ground.

"The issue around essential services, of course, is not black and white, because you can have the right to strike while ensuring a certain level of staffing continues," Coon said on the New Brunswick Political Panel.

"And that's the definition of essential services, so what are the number of staff that need to remain on the job while the rest go out on strike?"

The panel discussion on Information Morning Fredericton came after contract negotiations between nursing home workers and the New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes broke down in advance of a court hearing Friday.

A court will hear applications Friday that could decide if thousands of New Brunswick nursing home workers can strike. (CBC)

Nursing Home workers wanted to strike, but they were stopped by a Court of Queen's Bench ruling on March 9. Justice David Smith ruled that workers couldn't strike for 10 days.

The judge's ruling came after the province asked for a stay of a December 2018 provincial labour board ruling that a law declaring nursing home workers essential service workers violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The province is appealing that ruling and asked for the 10-day stay to keep workers on the job until the appeal can be heard and the issue of whether the workers are essential can be settled.

People's Alliance MLA Rick DeSaulniers said it's "hard not to say" nursing home workers are essential, but he believes the issue can be resolved with the proper communication. He said the province dropped the ball by not being involved in the discussions from the beginning.

"If they don't offer [arbitration] and then they end up getting a court ruling that says these workers are essential, that just turns a collective bargaining process into collective begging," DeSaulniers said.

The government declined to participate in Thursday's political panel discussions, citing the negotiations.