Hospital administrative staff reject tentative agreement, but strike may be weeks away
Union official says pay is still a sticking point
Around 5,000 Nova Scotia health-care workers have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, but it may take more than a month before a strike date is set.
The workers are represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union and Unifor. The unions put out a joint statement on Monday saying 81.5 per cent of the workers had voted to rejected a tentative agreement with provincial government that was reached in April.
Voting on the agreement began on June 5 and ended late Friday.
Members voting to strike include clerks in all departments, equipment operators, administrative assistants, transcriptionists and health record technicians in hospitals province-wide, the release said.
The previous offer from the government "did not budge on monetary issues raised by the bargaining team," the release said.
NSGEU president Sandra Mullen said pay remains a sticking point in the negotiations.
Lagging behind
Mullen said workers feel their pay has been lagging behind other bargaining units in the health-care sector.
"Our members feel less respected and regarded in their workplace," she said. "The monetary package in these inflationary times, they felt, just hasn't kept up."
The previous contract expired Oct. 31, 2020, Mullen said, and they've been working to reach a new one since Nov. 1, 2020.
Although members have approved a strike, Mullen said it may be up to five weeks before they can take any job action.
Provincial legislation requires that unions complete an essential services plan with employers prior to a strike.
According to Mullen, the NSGEU is working with the other unions in the "complicated process" of identifying which positions are essential before they can call a strike date.
"That is very difficult to achieve but we put forward what we feel is who should be essential," Mullen said.
"We fully staff a unit like the cancer unit ... often we compare to the Christmas schedule where they do with a bare minimum."
Committed to continuing negotiations
An email from Nova Scotia Health on Tuesday said the authority and IWK Health are committed to continuing negotiations.
"Since the initial meeting in October 2022, Nova Scotia Health, IWK Health and the Council of Health Care Unions have worked hard and were able to reach a tentative agreement, which was narrowly rejected in April 2023," the email said.
"We believe the offer that was presented, and ratified by other health-care bargaining units, is fair to employees and taxpayers and in the best interests of patients and families."
MORE TOP STORIES