Nursing home staff reach settlement
SHEET HARBOUR - Although the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union (NSGEU) workers of Duncan MacMillan Nursing Home (DMNH) were in a strike position just prior to Christmas, the staff held off and their negotiators resumed talks on January 3, at which time an agreement was reached with DMNH that averted such action.
According to Director of Health Services spokesperson Sheila Martin, the primary issue was that a significant portion of the union felt a pay inequity existed. "There was discontent based on their belief of an inequity of pay for similar work between acute care workers and long-term care workers."
Negotiations began in March of 2005 and continued through the summer at which time they agreed they required a third party to assist them in reaching an agreement. A concilliator, appointed by the Department of Labour, worked with them through to December at which time the union felt they were unable to settle and they filed a 14-day-notice that placed them in a strike position.
Their employer, DMNH, receives its mandate from the Department of Health and they have strict guidelines as to what funding is available for wages. Even though they could walk off at any time after midnight on the 21st of December, the workers informed Martin that they had agreed to wait until January 2 to take any labour action. However, on December 31 both parties agreed to resume talks on January 3, 2006.
In the meantime, the management of the home, in preparation for being without workers, developed contingency plans that included moving residents to either the Eastern Shore Memorial Hospital or other facilities in the Tri-Facility area. The move became unnecessary and Martin says, "We were able to address the LPN pay equity concern. We agreed to a feasibility study of Duncan MacMillan Nursing Home support staff becoming Capital Health employees."
The province of Nova Scotia is divided into nine districts and Capital Health is the largest. Capital Health has one board that covers funding for facilities that include the QEII, the Tri-Facility area, Hants Community Hospital and some community services. The majority of nursing homes in the district have their own boards that receive funding directly from the Department of Health. This is where the issue of pay inequity is initiated. The Department of Health and the long-term care sector are working to create an atmosphere of equity within the sector of long-term and acute care. While Martin says they are in not in complete equity yet, the contract has been ratified until October 31, 2007. At that time they will return to the bargaining table. The government will then give the DMNH a new mandate. They are required in the meantime to commence the feasibility study within the next six months. That will be presented to the Department of Health within a year for a final decision.
