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April 23, 1998
Bargaining Bulletin #2
Negotiations for our next collective agreement have begun. During this round of bargaining we have a very long "to do" list.
What We're Trying to Achieve
First, many unresolved issues remain from the levelling process from our last round of bargaining. Last time we were amalgamating over 80 contracts into one provincial master agreement. The agreement was arbitrated according to the framework set out in the report of the Industrial Inquiry Commissioner, who was appointed by the government to settle all health care contracts. Part of his framework was a limit on the amount of money available for bringing wages, benefits, premiums and other conditions up to the level of the previous hospital agreement. Unfortunately, nurses' share of this amount was not enough to bring all those with inferior provisions up to the level of the new provincial standard. In this round we must achieve equity for those members who still take home less money.
Some nurses lost some superior provisions in the arbitration process. We'll be trying to get relief on those issues.
We also have over 400 new members for whom we are bargaining a first contract. They will be covered by the new provincial master agreement, and bringing their wages, benefits and conditions up to standard must be part of any deal we reach.
Members told us loud and clear what their priorities are for improving the new provincial agreement: there need to be enough nurses on the job to provide quality care, to prevent nurses from getting injured and sick, and to improve the living standards of sick and injured nurses. The provincial bargaining conference fleshed out these issues by debating a number of ways that these problems can be solved. These form the basis of the bargaining demands enclosed with this bulletin.
The Plan
Here are new rules for bargaining in the restructured health care system. We are now part of a nurses' bargaining association, which includes the unions which represent psychiatric nurses (RPNs) as well as RNs and LGNs. This means that the other unions have seats at our bargaining table. While we have the majority of seats, it means that we must take care of the other unions' issues as well as ours'. This makes the bargaining process longer and more complicated.
We have now put together a comprehensive package of bargaining proposals which deal with all of the issues which you indicated were important through the one to one canvass. This package is supported by research which argues why health employers should agree to those changes. This package is being explained in detail to the employers' bargaining team at the bargaining table by our bargaining team. We supply to the employer all the research which backs up our demands.
No matter how eloquent our bargaining team, it still takes pressure on the employers to get them to agree to make improvements. This pressure shows the employers, and the politicians who control the budgets that members are prepared to speak out and take action to achieve our goals. This pressure can be applied on a number of fronts.
Provincially the union has been lobbying politicians on the need for more nurses in order to alleviate the workload and ensure that quality care is protected. We have also been talking to them about the toll that working under today's conditions takes on our members, and the need to prevent injuries and illness. Our accounts of the poverty in which our members on LTD live had made them aware of the need to index LTD benefits. The new Minister of Health is well aware of the problems that nurses face, as she too is a nurse.
But in a time of tight budgets, governments argue that there is not enough money to hire more nurses, buy lifting equipment, index LTD benefits and give a decent pay increase. This means that we have to take our case to the taxpayers and ask them to tell politicians that they want their tax money spent on hiring more nurses, for example.
Nurses will be getting that message to the public by two means: worksite campaigns and theme weeks. Worksite campaigns will be initiated by stewards who will organize members into local activities which highlight the need for protection against heavy workloads and the injuries they cause. These on-site campaigns will be backed up by brochures explaining our concerns to the public, to be distributed by members at that worksite, and ads in community newspapers.
Theme weeks will highlight key issues. They will be designed to fit with other events happening in the community and in members' lives. The first one centres around nurses' week and our professional concern for the quality of care we are able to deliver. During theme weeks we need each member to wear the sticker we supply for the entire week. This sends a strong, united message to both our employers and the public on our key concerns.
The Package
Our proposals have been grouped by topic: improving the quality of patient care; standardizing to the new provincial master agreement; equalizing conditions for nurses covered by the new provincial master agreement; improving health and welfare benefits; the pay package; health promotion and prevention; and quality of work life. A complete list is enclosed.
The Time Line
Collective agreements which work for all our members don't get built in a day. Last time we bargained, an arbitrator decided what the framework for our agreement would be. Although there were gains made, there were also lots of problems that did not get addressed. This time around we have lots of cleaning up to do, as well as making key changes. It will take time to explain and illustrate the need for these changes to our employer. We expect that bargaining will take months to complete if our issues are to be dealt with fairly.
Over the course of these months we will be mailing you more bargaining bulletins and asking you to wear more stickers and take part in locally organized events.
If nurses speak up, we will be heard!
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