Nurses union claims another large vote for strike mandate

The Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union said Monday that another group of its members has given negotiators a strong strike mandate, more than a week before formal talks were set to resume with government.

The union said nurses working with Central Health voted 90.1 per cent in favour of a strike if necessary, to back demands for greater pay than a what government has offered. More than 92 per cent of eligible members took part in the vote.

Similarly high results have been reported already at Western Health and Eastern Health. Voting concluded in Labrador in Friday, but those results will not be made public until later this week.

Union president Debbie Forward said negotiations will resume April 2 with government and the province's regional health authorities.

The provincial government has negotiated deals with most of its public sector workers, who have accepted a wage template that includes raises of about 21.5 per cent, compounded, over four years.

The NLNU had been seeking at least 24 per cent over two years when talks broke off early last fall with government. However, the union in January indicated that it would accept 16 per cent over two years.

In January, Finance Minister Jerome Kennedy said government was willing to legislate striking nurses back to work, although he said several weeks later that government wanted to return to the bargaining table first.

The union, though, refused to resume formal bargaining until it had conducted a strike vote.

The union has insisted that a stronger deal is necessary to fill job vacancies in the province, and to keep more senior nurses from quitting for jobs in the rest of Canada.