Health support unions file for conciliation, say talks have stalled with province
Posted Mar 26, 2025 04:39:10 AM.
Last Updated Mar 26, 2025 10:22:14 AM.
The Health Support Council of Unions has filed for conciliation, saying negotiations for workers at the IWK Health Centre and Nova Scotia Health have hit a brick wall.
The council is made up of unions including Unifor, Nova Scotia Government Employees Union (NSGEU) and Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing about 4,600 health support workers in Nova Scotia.
The council says negotiations began last September with the goal of bringing the bargaining unit up to the standards and wage increases secured by nurses and other bargaining units in recent agreements.
“Health-care support workers are vital to the smooth running of all hospitals in Nova Scotia, and yet the Houston government is determined to drag out bargaining while offering them little to ease the ever-increasing burden of the cost-of-living crisis,” Dianne Frittenburg, CUPE 8920 president ,said. “We’re only asking for the same treatment our fellow health-care workers received, but this government has continued to show little respect for us and our work by refusing to table a similar offer.”
The unions say the decision to go to conciliation was filed jointly by the Health Support Council and the employers, recognizing that talks had reached an impasse.
“All health-care workers deserve a fair deal that will help them keep pace with our affordability crisis,” Sandra Mullen, NSGEU president, said. “Health support workers are an invaluable part of the overall health-care team and should be treated as such by this government.”
The council says essential services negotiations are ongoing and, once completed, would put thousands of health-care workers in a legal strike position, if required.
