N.L. government and nurses set to meet Sunday

The Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union and the provincial government have agreed to meet Sunday afternoon.

The goal is to avoid a nurses' strike that could ultimately harm patients.

Union officials say both sides are meeting at the request of a conciliator who has been involved in negotiations since last September.

The province's more than 5,000 nurses had been preparing to refuse all overtime, starting May 18. By Thursday, however, the government said it wanted to enact essential-worker agreements, with the union responding that it was effectively being locked out.

Health officials fear that would cripple the province's ailing health-care system.

The dispute between the nurses' union and the provincial government hinges on two issues. With one, the government wants the right to pay a newly hired nurse more than a colleague doing the same job, as long as the position has been declared hard to fill. The nurses' union says that provision alone undercuts the principle of collective bargaining.

With the second, the government wants to be able to terminate a nurse's job two years after the worker is deemed permanently disabled.

Nurses say they'll call off their job action if the government agrees to binding arbitration to resolve the remaining two issues. The province has repeatedly rejected that option.

Monetary issues, including raises to the starting and top wage scales, have been settled.

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams warned that those provisions will come off the table if the nurses are legislated back to work.

On May 8, 63 per cent of the province's nurses rejected the government's latest offer.

In an earlier vote, 89 per cent of nurses voted in favour of a strike.