Premier’s layoffs comment ‘threatens’ nurses’ negotations: union
Posted May 3, 2012 05:52:04 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Another union that’s heading to the bargaining table is taking issue with something the premier said this week.
Darrell Dexter said the raises coming to Capital Health employees could result in layoffs and put additional pressure on services.
The Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union says it will be seeking parity with another bargaining unit of RNs that was awarded a 5.1 per cent raise in part of its contract, reached through arbitration last fall.
President Janet Hazelton tells Global News the premier’s comments puts her members in a difficult position.
“Innuendo is out there that if you ask for the same as other nurses got in this province, by the same employer, then it could result in job cuts,” she said.
Hazelton says the premier’s comments are a threat to any attempt at good faith bargaining, but Darrell Dexter says it’s part of the blindingly obvious.
“It is still quite obvious to everybody, if you have a finite envelope of money, wage increases affects the ability to do the same kind of staffing,” he said.
The nurses’ union heads to bargaining with the IWK and health authorities in the coming months.
