Health professionals' union says negotiations for new contract have broken down

Newfoundland and Labrador's Association of Allied Health Professionals says their negotiations with the provincial government on a new collective agreement have reached an impasse.

Association president Gordon Piercey says talks broke down during a Tuesday evening meeting.

"We decided that we were very far apart on a number of key issues," Piercey said Wednesday.

The association represents about 800 workers in more than 20 health-care fields, including audiologists, dietitians, pharmacists, mental health counsellors and social workers. Negotiations have been ongoing for a year, according to a press release from the association.

Piercey said some major issues that need to be improved upon are working conditions, workloads and wages, and the right deal will benefit the entire health-care system.

"We feel this collective agreement is about a lot of things, but it's also about sustainability of the health-care system and strengthening it for the residents of the province," he said.

"A competitive collective agreement is probably the best recruitment and retention tool that we could ever hope to have. And we've heard a lot about recruitment and retention."

The Newfoundland and Labrador government has recently successfully negotiated with other unions representing health-care professionals — including the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees, and the Registered Nurses' Union of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Those unions recently got a two per cent wage increase per year for four years, a signing bonus and contract improvements as part of their collective agreements, but Piercey wouldn't say if his members will accept something similar.

Piercey says a strike would be a last resort but members are strong in their resolve to find a way to get negotiations back on track.

"We feel right now that we're fighting for the health-care system. We're as invested in this as every other resident of the province is," he said.

"It's the last thing that we want to do, but I will tell you the members are motivated and they are mobilizing."

A statement from government spokesperson Victoria Barbour on behalf of Finance Minister Siobhan Coady didn't address the impasse but said the provincial government is "continuing the hard work" to reach an agreement with the association.

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