Nova Scotia to pick health-care unions after 'inconclusive' arbitration
'We are disappointed,' says Health Minister Leo Glavine
The Nova Scotia government says an "inconclusive" arbitration will force it to introduce legislation to assign unions to four provincial health-care bargaining units.
"We are disappointed," said Nova Scotia Health Minister Leo Glavine during Friday's news conference.
"He failed to deliver a decision in three of the four bargaining units.... We will introduce legislation to do that."
Glavine went on to say that arbitrator James Dorsey's report does not give clarity on the health merger and that Dorsey had failed his mandate.
Dorsey was hired last year to restructure health-care bargaining as part of a Liberal government initiative to streamline health-care administration.
The Health Authorities Act requires separate bargaining units for nurses, health-care workers, clerical workers and support staff.
Health workers are currently represented by the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, the Nova Scotia Nurses Union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees and Unifor.
Ready for restructuring
Dorsey's 96-page report, released Friday, chose the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union to represent workers in two of the four health-care bargaining units — health-care workers and clerical workers.
Glavine said the government is ready to take clerical workers away from the NSGEU and appoint another union — either CUPE or Unifor — to represent them. He did not say which union would get which unit.
The health minister also indicated the Liberal government wanted the Nova Scotia Nurses' Union to represent the province's 9,600 nurses.
Glavine would not say whether the legislature would be recalled early to pass a law assigning bargaining units.
Danny Cavanagh, the regional vice-president of CUPE, said the unions cannot trust the government.
Meanwhile, acting NDP leader Maureen MacDonald said the Liberal "preoccupation" with the union restructuring is a waste of time.
'True victory'
Earlier on Friday, before Glavine said the province would have to go back to the drawing board, the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union took a victory lap.
"Today's decision is a true victory for workers in this province," Joan Jessome, the president of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, said in a statement.
"We went into this process with the goal of keeping our members, and we will do whatever it takes to ensure we can continue to represent them."
The NSGEU stands to gain about 4,000 workers from the Canadian Union of Public Employees and Unifor.
'Devastating for thousands'
In a news release, CUPE called the ruling "devastating for thousands of hard-working, proud CUPE members."
"Through no fault of their own, CUPE members in the health-care and clerical bargaining units have been ripped from their union by this government and given to another union."
Dorsey was hired last year to restructure health-care bargaining as part of a Liberal government initiative to streamline health-care administration.
The Health Authorities Act requires separate bargaining units for nurses, health-care workers, clerical workers and support staff.
Dorsey had been tasked with assigning Nova Scotia's 24,000 health-care workers into four bargaining units, from 50. His report, released Friday, revealed there will be eight bargaining units — four for the new provincial board and four for the IWK Health Centre.
He had to assign one union to each of the four workers' categories.
'Puzzled' by decision
In Friday's decision, Dorsey ruled the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union had a required majority in the health care and clerical categories.
He said no union had a majority needed to represent nurses or support workers.
Last month, Premier Stephen McNeil's government hastily enacted regulations to engineer the selection of the Nova Scotia Nurses' Union as a bargaining agent for the province's 9,600 nurses.
Dorsey rejected the regulations.
Janet Hazelton, the president of the Nova Scotia Nurses' Union, said Friday she was "puzzled" by the decision and what it means for nurses. She said the ball is now in the government's court.
Glavine has said he expects the province's taxpayers will benefit from less time and money spent bargaining contracts as a result of cutting the number of bargaining units.