The administrative staff of the hospital rejects the provisional agreement, but the strike could take weeks

About 5,000 health workers in Nova Scotia have voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike, but it could be more than a month before a strike date is set.

The workers are represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union and Unifor. The unions released a joint statement on Monday saying that 81.5 percent of workers had voted against a tentative deal with the provincial government reached in April.

Voting on the deal began on June 5 and ended late on Friday.

Members who voted to strike include clerks from all departments, equipment operators, administrative assistants, transcribers and medical records technicians at hospitals across the county, the release said.

The government’s previous bid “did not address monetary issues raised by the negotiating team,” the release said.

NSGEU chair Sandra Mullen said pay remains a sticking point in the negotiations.

Falling behind

Mullen said workers feel their wages are lagging behind other health care bargaining units.

“Our members feel less respected and valued in their workplace,” she said. “The monetary package in these inflationary times, they felt, just hasn’t kept up.”

The previous contract expired on October 31, 2020, Mullen said, and they have been working on a new contract since November 1, 2020.

Although members have approved a strike, Mullen said it could take up to five weeks before they can take action.

Provincial law requires unions to establish an essential services plan with employers prior to a strike.

According to Mullen, the NSGEU is working with the other unions in the “complicated process” of identifying which positions are essential before they can declare a strike date.

“That’s very hard to achieve, but we’ve brought forward what we think should be essential,” Mullen said.

“We fully staff a unit like the cancer unit…often we compare ourselves to the Christmas schedule where they do it with a bare minimum.”

CBC News has reached out to Nova Scotia Health for comment, but has not yet received a response.

MORE TOP STORIES