Nova Scotia health talks move to arbitration

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Unifor is disappointed a mediated settlement among the four Nova Scotia health care unions and the acute care employers could not be reached.

"Unifor is deeply committed to building and maintaining a strong voice for the public health care workers that impact our lives in very profound ways," said Lana Payne, Unifor Atlantic Director. "We find ourselves in a situation created by a government bent on not only undermining unions, but also the stability and quality of the public health care system on which Nova Scotians rely."

Despite the best efforts of a mutually selected third party, James Dorsey, the four unions and the acute care sector employers were unable to reach a solution to the difficulties created by Bill 1, brought in by the Liberal government to amalgamate the province's health district authorities and strip employees of their chosen unions.

Prior to mediation, Unifor and other health care unions developed a plan for each union to continue to represent its own members and, in council with the other unions, bargain the four collective agreements the government demanded.

"We went into mediation with this as our goal. We worked hard to get there, and we still believe that this is the best approach, the fairest approach, the solution that respects workers' rights and protects a stable public health care system, on which the people of Nova Scotia depend," said Payne.

During the next step of arbitration, each union will be told which category of workers in the acute care sector they will represent: nursing, non-nursing front-line health care workers, clerical and administrative workers.