N.S. Nurses' Union ratifies agreement with long-term care employers
Deal matches compensation package for acute care nurses agreed this summer
The Nova Scotia Nurses' Union have voted in favour of a five-year contract with long-term care employers in the province.
In a news release on Thursday, the union said the agreement includes improvements to wages, premiums, occupational health and safety and work-life balance.
The union said the agreement also "provides increases to the late-career retention bonus and retiree recruitment incentive."
Voting began on Dec. 18 and ended on Dec. 21 at noon, with 98 per cent of voters in favour of the new agreement.
"I'm pleased to see 2023 come to a close with an agreement for our valued long-term care nurses. These nurses work extremely hard. Their work is personally very rewarding, but they also deserve to be compensated fairly for their commitment to one of our most vulnerable populations," NSNU president Janet Hazleton said in the news release.
Ahead of the vote, Hazelton said she's satisfied with the deal.
The union wanted to ensure its members will receive the same compensation package agreed upon by acute care nurses this summer, Hazelton said.
In addition, new language is being added to the collective bargaining agreement to address safety issues and prevent workplace violence, she said.
"There's going to be more co-operation between the member, the union and the employer to address those kinds of issues."
The union has around 1,100 members who work in the long-term care sector, Hazelton said, and they will vote on whether to ratify the deal in the next few days.
If they accept it, the union says the agreement will provide a wage settlement that's retroactive to Nov. 1, 2020, and will expire Oct. 31, 2025.
VON agreement ratified
Last week, the union reached a separate tentative agreement with the Victorian Order of Nurses, which Hazelton said would also maintain parity with acute care nurses.
That deal addresses safety issues too, she said, including by introducing new procedures for nurses who are called to homes for support in the middle of the night.
On Monday, the union announced that its members with the Victorian Order of Nurses had voted to accept that agreement, which also included an increase in bonuses aimed at retaining late-career nurses.
