N.S. health care administrators staging ‘Day of Action’ to protest low wages

Thousands of health-care administrators across Nova Scotia are expected to take part in a lunch hour protest.

According to the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU), workers in health care administration are among the lowest-paid health-care professionals in Atlantic Canada.

The NSGEU says the so-called “Day of Action” demonstrations are planned outside 11 hospitals and aim to draw attention to the fact that these workers’ contracts expired almost three years ago in what it is calling a ‘Day of Action’.

NSGEU’s president Sandra Mullen says that some 5,000 workers haven’t had a raise since 2019.

“We are consistently working with the parties to try to get something to get back to the table,” she told CityNews last week. “But officially, we have nothing yet.”

In Halifax, picketers are expected to gather in protest in front of the Dickson Building at the QEII Health Sciences on University Ave. today at 11:30 am as well as at Dartmouth General Hospital.

Other areas around the province include:

Cape Breton, Cape Breton Regional Hospital
Truro, Colchester East Hants Health Centre
Windsor, Hants Community Hospital
Kentville, Valley Regional Hospital
Bridgewater, South Shore Regional Hospital
Yarmouth, Yarmouth Regional Hospital
Antigonish, St. Martha’s Regional Hospital
New Glasgow, Aberdeen Hospital
Amherst, Cumberland Colchester Hospital

In a release, the NSGEU also says they will launch a public e-action campaign that will allow the public to send a message supporting the workers to Premier Tim Houston, employers and local elected officials.