Nova Scotia health authorities arbitration begins Tuesday
The province has passed legislation that will consolidate 9 health authorities into one
An arbitration hearing begins Tuesday that will determine how thousands who work for the IWK Health Centre and Nova Scotia's nine district health authorities will be represented after the health system is re-organized.
Earlier this fall, the province passed legislation that will consolidate nine health authorities into one and ordered the assignment of 24,000 nurses and staff into one of four unions — amid heated protests by many.
- Nova Scotia health authorities merger explained
- Nova Scotia health merger bill thrusts union leaders into spotlight
Arbitrator James Dorsey has been brought in from British Columbia to divide up nurses, licensed practical nurses, support staff (cleaning and cooks), clerical staff and healthcare workers (lab technologists and porters) among four unions.
The unions include the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union with 11,867 members, the Nova Scotia Nurses' Union with 5,028 members, the Canadian Union of Public Employees with 4,653 members and Unifor with 2,289 workers.
The provincial legislation allows each of the four unions to represent only one class of workers, a requirement that could strip the NSGEU — the largest union with 40 per cent of the province's nurses — of 9,000 of its members.
NSGEU lawyer Drew Plaxton from Manitoba will argue the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that enshrines the right of workers to form a union, also extends to choosing a union under these circumstances.
"This legislation imposes unions onto workers," says NSGEU president Joan Jessome. "The workers who are impacted by this should have the right to choose. All 24,000 healthcare workers should get the right to vote."
The Supreme Court of Canada is currently wrestling with a similar challenge brought by a group that represents RCMP officers in Ontario.
That won't help arbitrator James Dorsey who will be hearing arguments for the next six days at a hotel near Halifax's Stanfield International Airport.
CUPE raises charter challenge
CUPE is also raising a charter challenge. Lawyer Susan Cohen will argue later Tuesday the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects workers who have already chosen their union representation from having it taken away or re-assigned to another union.
"The charter challenge is in there, it's about how the unions should continue to represent the members they have today," said Danny Cavanaugh, the Nova Scotia president of CUPE. "A bargaining association is the cleanest cut at the cake."
CUPE, as well as Unifor, supports the bargaining association model in place in B.C.
Should the arbitrator accept CUPE's argument, a bargaining association might be an option, despite being rejected by the N.S. Nurses' Union during mediation last summer.
A bargaining association maintains the status quo by allowing each union to keep its members while negotiating as one group for one contract.
Lana Payne, the head of Unifor in Atlantic Canada, favours this approach.
"We have also heard clear messages from the government around wanting to do shared services and contracting out and privatization, so there is going to be a lot of incredible change happening in healthcare workplaces," Payne says.
"Union representation is one of those things. And when you start layering that amount of change, I think you are going to see a fair amount of chaos and upheaval," she said. “And there is enough happening with the restructuring without adding this kind of upheaval in the system."
Dorsey must make a decision on which union represents which healthcare workers in time to implement the changeover by April 1, 2015.