Strike mandate in hand, N.L. nurses say

The Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union said Monday it has the final votes in place for a strike mandate, just days before the union returns to the bargaining table.

President Debbie Forward said in a statement that nurses working with Labrador-Grenfell Health, the authority that serves all of Labrador and northern Newfoundland, voted 89.7 per cent in favour of strike action.

The result is in line with how nurses in other areas of the province have voted.

The NLNU is scheduled to resume bargaining with Treasury Board and regional health authority officials on Thursday for the first formal meeting since talks broke off early last fall. Since then, nurses have been locked in a rhetorical battle with the government over contract demands.

The government had insisted that the nurses follow the same four-year wage template that most public-sector unions have accepted.

But last week, Finance Minister Jerome Kennedy revealed — while delivering the provincial budget in the house of assembly — that the government was now prepared to raise starting wages and top salaries, so long as nurses agree to other budget conditions.

Forward said she was surprised by Kennedy's move, and criticized the government for moving bargaining into the public arena.

Under provincial law, the union must give seven days' notice before a legal strike can begin.