Strike action averted by last-minute deal

Pulling all-nighters is usually the domain of the university student.

But it also worked in the case of the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union (NLNU) and government, who worked together all Tuesday night to avert a strike.

They reached a tentative agreement early Wednesday morning, and shortly after that calls came out to nurses who had prepared protest signs and planned rallies at some of the province's hospitals.

Joanne Baird is the union representative at the Central Newfoundland Regional Health Centre (CNRHC). Like the rest of the province's nurses, she's breathing a sigh of relief that government and the NLNU came to an agreement.

She received a call at 5:15 a.m. Wednesday telling her that a deal had been reached and that she had to contact the branch presidents in the area.

"We came to some common ground language with market adjustment clause," she said. "That was our biggest issue, and we have accepted the EEL clause."

That's Extended Earnings Loss (EEL) as previously put forward by the employer, relating to nurses who are off work because they became perma nently disabled. The nurses won a concession from the government on market adjustment. Instead of being able to hire new nurses at a higher wage than colleagues doing the same work, the government will pay them bonuses.

On the other hand, the union has agreed to the EEL clause that the government had wanted. In that clause, an injured nurse can lose his or her job two years after being listed as permanently disabled.

"They would be able to give one nurse different pay, or more annual leave, or the option to provide more benefits to a nurse other that what's in the contract," said Ms. Baird. "We're not opposed to the bonuses that they're giving nurses to come here, as other folks do that. But we were opposed to negotiating different contracts with different nurses."

Full details of the tentative agreement have not yet been released by the union to its members. But some of the details include an across the board compounded pay increase of 21.5 per cent, plus new step increases for new nurses and senior nurses (a total pay increase of 31 per cent and 27 per cent respectively by the end of the contract), substantial increases to shift differentials and standby rates, and increase in funding for education leave.

According to Premier Danny Williams, the agreement makes the province's nurses more competitive across the country and protects patient safety.

"It's a good news story for our public and our patients," said Ms. Baird.

Branch president Glenda Roy said she was pleased that a tentative agreement has been reached.

"The nurses themselves are very excited," she said. "It's been a long battle."