Unions not impressed with government deadline

Two public sector unions yet to reach agreements with the Newfoundland and Labrador government weren't impressed Tuesday by a deadline given by Finance Minister Jerome Kennedy during the province's latest economic update.

Kennedy said a wage offer of 20 per cent over four years couldn't be guaranteed beyond Dec. 31 because the province's fiscal health is dependent on the economic situation and the price of oil.

Carol Furlong, president of NAPE — the province' largest public sector union, said she wanted people to be happy with the agreement they would get, and she didn't think Kennedy's message was one that promoted "that kind of message that we're trying to ensure."

The union representing nurses in Newfoundland and Labrador said Tuesday the province's Dec. 31 deadline to accept the eight, four, four and four per cent wage offer is "not new news."

NLNU President Debbie Forward said Kennedy's deadline during his economic update didn't come as a surprise since he had written a letter to the union about the deadline which it received last Friday afternoon.

"The reality is it doesn't change the reality for nurses and the health-care system in this province," she said.

"We are still in the midst of a critical shortage and currently we're not seeing this government invest in addressing the nursing shortage which is obviously our priority and continues to be so."

Forward said she would respond to Kennedy via letter, and not through the media.

"But our issues in this round of bargaining [have] been around, making sure the government puts in place strategies to address the nursing shortage. We haven't seen that in any of our discussions to date. It still remains our priority, but I will be responding to the minister directly," she said.

During the union's last convention in October, there was a unanimous call for a strike vote to be taken in January.