Long-term care nurses reach tentative agreement, N.S. VON workers ratify contract

HALIFAX, N.S. — As one Nova Scotia Nurses Union bargaining unit ratified its new collective agreement, another has reached a tentative deal.

The NSNU said nearly 1,100 members working in 70 long-term care homes province-wide will vote to ratify a new five-year contract that addresses staff retention and employment gaps, as well as other unnamed issues.

“Our long-term care nurses work very hard, and the people in their care are like family to them,” said union president Janet Hazelton. “The bargaining teams’ goals were to achieve an equitable agreement, allowing nurses to be compensated fairly and respected for the work they do.”

If ratified, the wage settlement is retroactive to Nov. 1st, 2020, and will expire on Oct. 31st, 2025.

Meanwhile, in a separate release, the union said roughly 900 licensed practical nurses and registered nurses employed through the Victorian Order of Nurses voted 87 per cent in favour of adopting their agreement on Dec. 18.

Aside from a wage package which is competitive with acute care, the agreement covers safety protocols, increases to the late-career retention bonus and incentivized retiree recruitment.

The contract also contains new articles and language designed to retain and recruit nurses to the sector.

“We call our VON members road warriors because they’re in their cars and on the road, regardless of the weather, providing care to clients in their homes,” said Hazelton. “They face many of the same issues experienced by nurses in other areas of care, but also challenges that are unique to their practice.”

Both contracts are retroactive to Nov. 1, 2020, and will expire on Oct. 31, 2025.