N.L. wouldn't have to standardize travel nurse contracts if politicians had listened, NAPE says

The head of Newfoundland and Labrador's Association of Public and Private Employees says the provincial health authority wouldn't have had to standardize a contract for private agency nurses had it listened to the concerns of nurses in the past.

Speaking with CBC News on Monday, NAPE president Jerry Earle said the union has been firm in its stance against the prolonged use of agency nurses.

"The warning signs were there nine, 10 years ago. It just wasn't dealt with," he said.

"If actions had been done proper, had front-line management in the former legacy boards seen what  we were seeing … they would have prepared and we would not be spending millions of taxpayer's dollars on private contract nursing."

Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services issued an request for proposals on Friday seeking to standardize the contract it offers to private agency nurses. All contracts would be awarded for two years to an approved list of agencies, who would only be used when all other employment sources have been exhausted, according to the health authority.

NAPE, which represents around 2,000 nurses in the province, along with the Registered Nurses' Union of Newfoundland and Labrador, voiced opposition. RNUNL president Yvette Coffey told CBC on Friday that her union wasn't consulted and found out about the proposal through the media.

Agency nurses have been used to fill gaps in the system and keep emergency rooms open in towns across Newfoundland and Labrador, and have been touted as a necessary evil by the provincial government.

While Earle acknowledged that emergency rooms needed to stay open, he says the health authority should have known years ago that staffing issues were going to surface.

He believes they could have gone down different avenues — which he said front-line staff and unions have presented in the past — to fill the gaps instead of spending millions on agency nurses.

"There are other ways they could have looked at. I've heard the registered nurses' union talk about things to do to attract those that are in casual positions…. We have some that have retired. Had they talked to them, maybe they could have helped out in the system," Earle said.

"There's a number of things they could have done, and I'd say should have done."

Earle also voiced concern about the precedent a standardized contract could set for other public sector professions in the future.

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.