Arbitrator Renders Nursing Council Award

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Mediator-arbitrator William Kaplan has issued his award which establishes a collective agreement for approximately 7500 acute care nurses working throughout the province with the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the IWK.

The award came after mediation-arbitration which took place late last month and concludes a process that began in early September of this year. 

The new collective agreement can be found here.

Although government legislated a wage pattern for health care workers when Bill 148 was enacted, the negotiating team was kept very busy dealing with numerous articles and outstanding issues.

All other provisions including language changes will not take effect until February 1, 2019, unless otherwise specified. This timeframe allows both sides to prepare for the changes required. During this time, the transitional collective agreements that employers, unions and nurses have referenced since 2011, will remain in effect.

This concludes bargaining for this historic round. The Council of Nursing Unions bargained together for the first time after government legislated the creation of the four health care bargaining councils in 2015. The process required integrating Collective Agreements from four different unions into one agreement for the Nova Scotia Health Authority and one for the IWK Health Centre.

The Council of Nursing Unions is made up of NSNU, NSGEU, CUPE, and Unifor. The Nursing Council Bargaining Committee was led by members of the NSNU, with additional representation from NSGEU, CUPE and Unifor in all areas of the province and former District Health Authorities.

Media Contacts:

NSNU Coleen Logan (902) 430-6169
NSGEU Holly Fraughton (902)-471-1781
CUPE Gaëlle McNeil (902) 471-8923
Unifor Shelley Amyotte (902) 717-7491