{"id":7730,"date":"2024-08-28T10:35:12","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T13:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=7730"},"modified":"2024-08-28T10:36:22","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T13:36:22","slug":"nova-scotias-health-minister-warns-of-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2024\/08\/28\/nova-scotias-health-minister-warns-of-strike\/","title":{"rendered":"Nova Scotia’s health minister warns of strike"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Michelle Thompson, Nova Scotia’s health and wellness minister, is warning of a potential strike by more than 9,000 health-care workers. (Communications Nova Scotia)<\/p><\/div>\n

Nova Scotia\u2019s health minister is warning the province\u2019s health authorities to prepare for a possible strike by more than 9,000 health-care workers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michelle Thompson wrote a letter to the CEOs<\/a> of the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the IWK Health Centre. She said the province is committed to reaching a settlement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thompson said talks have been difficult but are continuing with the help of a conciliator.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEach negotiated settlement and wage and benefit investment we have made has resulted in higher wages,\u201d she wrote in the letter, released Tuesday by her department.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce again significant wage increases are on the table. At the same time, we have to be mindful of the taxpayer and make sure that we only commit to what is affordable to taxpayers, now and into the future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The employees are represented by three different unions – the NSGEU, CUPE and Unifor. The unions are negotiating as one body under a council of health-care unions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Members represent more than 170 occupations in the health-care system – including those working in diagnostic imaging and laboratory, mental health and addictions, cancer therapy, paramedics, and community health.<\/span><\/p>\n

The unions say many employees are now the lowest paid in Atlantic Canada and are struggling with severe staffing shortages.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thompson said in the letter that the government is focused on \u201ctough but fair\u201d bargaining. She said they want an agreement without a strike, but that the province\u2019s finances are stretched.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is that with a staggering provincial deficit, there is just no more to offer. We simply can\u2019t sweeten the offer because the taxpayer is already stretched to their limit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In late July, Nova Scotia\u2019s Finance Minister Allan MacMaster reported the province recorded a $143-million surplus on surging revenues. He said Nova Scotia brought in $1 billion more than expected last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

This round of contract negotiations does not include doctors or nurses.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nova Scotia\u2019s health minister is warning the province\u2019s health authorities to prepare for a possible strike by more than 9,000 health-care workers. Michelle Thompson wrote a letter to the CEOs of the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the IWK Health Centre. She said the province is committed to reaching a settlement.\u00a0 Thompson said talks have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[2580,1226,1595,45,418,241,161,989,2581],"class_list":["post-7730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-contract-negotiations","tag-cupe","tag-health-care","tag-iwk-health-centre","tag-michelle-thompson","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nova-scotia-health-authority","tag-nsgeu","tag-unifor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7730"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7732,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7730\/revisions\/7732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}