The final buzzer has not yet sounded on former employees of Glace Bay’s Bayplex.
Wayne Perry and Frank Wadden have decades of experience making and maintaining ice at the arena. Wadden says he was told he was too old to return to work, while Perry says he's being terminated April 1.
It didn’t take long for the news to spread in the Glace Bay community.
“It's just a miscarriage of justice,” says resident Nick Bonnar.
Cape Breton Regional Mayor Cecil Clarke has requested an issue paper from municipal staff and human resources to determine what the next step will be.
An unscheduled meeting with officials was held late Wednesday afternoon at City Hall.
“We will honour any commitments and requirements we have legally or by policy within the CBRM,” Clarke says. “There's no case of wanting to treat someone inappropriately or not respect their value as an employee.”
The municipality still can’t give a clear answer on whether the ice makers will return to their jobs, only saying they could be recalled in the fall of 2019.
Perry says the whole situation has been emotional.
“You are always worried maybe they won't want you anyway and get rid of you,” says Perry. “By law, I should be here.”
He also says public support appears to be growing.
“A friend of mine went on her Facebook page and put it on, and I think within a half hour there was 200 or 300 hits,” says Perry. “It was unbelievable the people in support of me.”
The union the three men belonged was dissolved when the municipality took over the Bayplex.
The Cape Breton Regional Municipality says it will meet with a lawyer to determine if the men have successor rights.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.
