Fredericton — CUPE Local 1252, the New Brunswick Council of Hospital Unions, is suggesting job hopefuls omit no sordid details from their resumés if they hope to find and keep work in the Picture Province.
“It gives you an edge and shows that you’ve really lived,” said union president Mark McCoy. “You may be a murderer, a drug dealer or a pimp, but that won’t exclude you from also being a cop, a chef or a chief surgeon. We’re willing to fight for people who have seedy backgrounds. As long as you’re bilingual, of course.”
A local man who was fired by Horizon Health after several DUIs, showing up to the job drunk, and not showing up at all due to being in jail, said he can attest to the union’s dedication to workers of questionable calibre.
“Anything that makes your application stand out from the norm will help you in the end,” he said. “Not in the beginning, necessarily — employers don’t want terrible people working for them — but when you get fired for whatever it is you do that’s against the law, a union will be there to back you up. As long as you’re open and honest about being a criminal.”
McCoy said the union, and most unions in New Brunswick, want those unsavoury details up-front so that they have something to do: working tirelessly to get you suspended with pay. He used the Fredericton Police to illustrate his point.
“Say a cop drives drunk, or shoplifts, or gets wrapped up in some kind of domestic abuse scandal. The worst that ever happens is they get a paid vacation, right? So why should this opportunity be limited to police?
“When you’re bored of your holiday and want to come back to work, we’ll do our best to set you up with a nice promotion. Hell, the province needs more doctors, right? Why shouldn’t they hire you? A lack of education or skills and a laundry list of transgressions should never preclude willing individuals from working in their desired fields.”